PPGD: The Black War
by Birdofterror
Summary: (Story 7 in the Chronometal Universe) "Black Eden… I haven't heard that name in a long time, a whisper on Blossom's voice, and a hiss from Bell's mouth…" - Buttercup, speaking to one of her new allies in this crazy war. The Black War is an extremely long and linear story that takes place IMMEDIATELY after the Red Story. I never completed it, but I am hosting what's left anyway.
1. Black War Prologue

**Author's Note: **_I'm probably crazy for doing this, given there's not much of a Market for this story much anymore (or ever) but recent events have inspired me to at least give it a try. This is the infamous Black War, a story I completed about 75% of before the Snafu Forums died, and I lost months of writing progress and subsequently quit. Unlike most of the other Chronometal Stories, this story doesn't utilize (at least as much) time travel. It's a wholly linear story that tracks its progress in years. This is still a story from almost 5 years ago, and as such still has some of my old writing styles, and may have a few rookie mistakes caught in it._

Credit to the PPG/Dexter among other characters goes to Cartoon Network and their creators, while credit to the picture used in this story go to The Phoenix Society of Deviantart- or whatever he calls himself nowadays. It is a picture of a Corrupted Chronometal Ruby.

* * *

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 0  
Prologue

* * *

A nostalgic feeling washes over them.

The hospital doors open and the sun beams hit their eyes, as they are slightly unprepared. They squint, one of them moving a wheelchair outside. On the wheelchair, there is a young woman roughly twenty to twenty five years old. Her hair is black and her expression is vacant. Her long time in bed has made her hair long. The person pushing the chair is a man of similar age.

He has long red hair in a large ponytail that nearly reaches the ground, and although he frequently wears a hat, he is not today. He is wearing modest clothing, pants and a coat that don't catch any glances. His left hand is robotic, as he has lost his real hand a while ago. His expression is one of genuine happiness, he's finally leaving this Hospital... leaving it on good terms this time.

There is a third member, her eyes still squinting as she uses her left hand to block the sunlight from hitting her eyes directly. Short blonde hair. She usually wears them in pig tails, but during a recent image change, she has decided to wear her hair down now. Her blue eyes, once so full of innocence and childish happiness are now filled with a jaded composure that occurs when one lives a life of hardship and betrayal. But her face is also smiling, she feels good, warm on the inside for the first time in a long while.

She is wearing a light blue tee shirt, but the right sleeve droops down with no arm to fill it. She lost her right arm a long time ago. But at this time, she considers herself master of whatever body she has left. She hasn't worn a dress in a long time, though several years ago you would never catch her wearing anything else. Instead she wears baggy pants, the dark blue coloration matching the light blue of her shirt. All three of them have left the Hospital, all of them admitted for different reasons, all of them leaving for the same reason.

They are going home.

"It's beautiful out today isn't it, Bubbles?" – "It's a little bright..." She says, responding to Brick, still squinting as the mid day sun hits her hard. "Do you think Olga will be okay?" – "What do you mean?" – "I mean she has been bedridden for months. Are you sure it's okay to just wheel her directly into the sun like this?" Before Brick has a chance to respond, Olga weakly looks over.

"It's... okay..." She says with a faint voice. Bubbles nods. "Okay, Olga. If you say so."

Brick looks around for something resembling a car, his face showing one of confusion. "Now this is the part I don't get. We can fly, right? We're superheroes? Why can't we just fly home with Olga?" Bubbles responds, walking in front of him and closer to the street. "Because after that press conference, it was made abundantly clear that the entire world is still uncomfortable around superhumans. We can't just call attention to ourselves like in the old days... times have changed..." – "You got that right..." Brick agrees, remembering everything that has happened recently.

"Alright I get it now, but where's our ride?" – "Right here." Bubbles says, turning around. To Brick's absolute astonishment, she is right next to a limousine. "You... you have a LIMO?!" – "I'm a celebrity now. I have my own money. I didn't have a use for the stuff for the longest time, but now that I'm keeping a lower profile... I need it now." – "I get it, I get it. Any food in it?" – "Of course." She says, opening the door to the back.

She turns back to Olga and kneels down to meet her on eye level as she sits in the wheelchair. She moves her eyes slowly to make eye contact with Bubbles. "...?" – "Can you get in yourself or do you want us to help you?" – "..." Olga sits in the chair motionless for a while. But then she gets up slowly, supporting her body with her wobbly arms as she gets out of the chair. Her shoe clacks on the road as she takes her first step in a long time. Then she moves into the car, sitting on the closest seat and sighing, the movements taking a lot out of her. Bubbles closes that door and opens another, beckoning Brick inside. He obliges quickly.

Bubbles circles around the limo and enters from the other side, sitting next to Olga. Brick is left on the other side as the limo driver speaks up. "Back home Miss Utonium?" – "Yes, please. Thank you." Bubbles looks over at Olga, who is still very distant. She scoots a little bit closer and strokes her hair to get a stray leaf out of it. It must have blown in there when they wheeled down. Olga looks back at Bubbles a little bit.

"Why... are you doing this...?" She asks. "Because it's in your hair, silly. Can't just have it in there. Ah, got it." She exclaims, throwing the leaf out the window. "Not that... this... me..." She says, looking at her hands. She is showing magnificent improvement. Just a couple of hours ago she couldn't even talk.

"What do you mean...?" – "My... memory isn't... perfect... but I remember a lot..." She says, her face showing pain. "I've done... terrible things... to both of you..." – "Shh..." Bubbles says, talking Olga down softly. "That was a long time ago. We're okay, all of us. All that's important now is that you're okay too." – "... Thank you..."

As the limo starts down the road, Brick notices there is some prime alcohol on ice. "Hey, Bubbles-" – "Yes, you can have some." Brick, satisfied with the answer, pops the cork and pours some in a glass. He nears the cut to his lips, but pauses, looking over to Bubbles. He parts the glass and sets it down.

"Hey..." – "Hmm?" Bubbles mutters having been staring in a random direction, his sudden noise catching her off guard. "Thanks. For all of this. I mean it." – "It's the least I can do. I can't have a new world hero wandering out of a hospital with nowhere to go. It wouldn't be right." – "Hero, huh?" Brick asks, looking out the window. "What you did with-" She pauses, stopping herself. Brick looks back, his chin still on his knuckles. "There's no kind way to say it, I know..." Brick reassures.

"What you did with Starfire... you're a hero, Brick." – "Had things been a little different, I could have saved her. Maybe Raven, too. Maybe even Jenny." – "Brick..." – "But it's okay. If I've learned anything from these damnable wars, it's everything happens for a reason... and wanting to change the past... wanting to bring the dead back to life only leads to more suffering than before." – "..." Bubbles nods.

Olga looks up at Brick, who almost doesn't even notice her because she is so sluggish and quiet. Once he finally does notice her, he speaks up. "What's up, Olga?" – "My head... hurts..." Bubbles looks over to her and puts her hand on her shoulder. "We're almost to my place. I can get you something." – "Thank you..."

The limo pulls up at the Utonium residence. Brick exits the car and stretches. "I didn't leave the hospital bed to be confined to another seat." He says, his last bone cracking into place being followed by a pleasured sigh. He looks at the house. It looks kind of like the house the Powerpuffs were living in back in Townsville, only a little bigger.

"Who else is living here? I don't really remember." Brick asks. "Just myself. The Professor is off doing something in Colorado. And, honestly... I haven't seen Buttercup in a few days. I wonder what she's doing..." – "Trust me, she's fine." – "I know, it just gets lonely here." She walks through the door, opening it with her left and only arm. She beckons Brick in. Olga follows slowly, still weak. Bubbles flicks on the light switch and the house comes to life.

"Make yourselves at home. I have something to do. Do you need anything Olga?" – "I'm... okay... just the headache medicine..." – "Right. Coming right up." Brick walks over to a desk nearby, a couple of papers strewn across it. A headline catches his eye.

"New Mayor's Aide makes headway at the young age of 15. Bright eyed highly ambitious 'Mandy' to set records in her field." Brick reads out loud. "Oh you're interested in that?" Bubbles says from the kitchen, overhearing Brick. "I guess so?" – "I've been keeping my eye on her for a while now." She says with a weird tone of voice. "Is that so?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a cold abyss...

Electricity surges down wall panels. A current of forward leading energy guided to a core, the energy all serving a single purpose. The lights in this place are broken... the ventilation systems are in disrepair... all tertiary systems are beyond help.

There is only one thing he cares about now.

He stands, his huge hands straddling an iron bar as he looks upon his new life's work. Three individuals, one in a pod, two on a table. The two on the tables look barely alive, their bodies still broken and battered, their souls not much better in comparison.

"A soul once without a body, bursting with energy, limitless potential... a Body once without a soul, untapped capacity but nothing to fill it with. Body... Soul..." He mumbles to himself, his inhuman hands bending the iron bar as he squeezes down.

The kids are stable... but barely. A single mistake, a single surge of energy would spell certain death. He is in a terrible hurry, but he knows the risks of forcing his hand. So, like it or not... he waits... but until then, his side project is still running at full steam. A small little dog robot hops down the hall.

"X! X! The pod is ready!" – "Hng? Oh, Gir... thank you." He says with his demonic yet calm voice. He stomps down the hall, the small bot doing figure eights around his legs. He reaches a small circular pad on the floor. The dog jumps up and pounds a red button and before they know it with a crackle of electricity, they are in a completely different area.

Gravity here is much lower, and the halls echo a lot more due to just how empty this place is. "You have been careful up here... right, Gir?" – "Of course of course! You says it, I does it!" – "Hmm... good." He grunts as he lumbers towards the innards.

He passes one door and enters a room. He makes eye contact with nothing. There is nothing here important to him anymore... just failures... A1-01-XR... A1-22-LE... A2-49-PK... All failures. Nothing is magic like the first time...

"Bell..." He says to himself, Gir beginning to whimper a small bit. "But this next one is stable! More stable than the last ten attempts! You'll see! It'll work!" – "Your optimism is... comforting, Gir..." They enter another chamber. Similar failures present in all.

B1-02-AM... More failed attempts, all of them. The room is chrome and circular. The walls are lined tightly with pods. The only portions of the room that aren't packed with pods have thick glass windows that show a barren gray wasteland outside. "Cold emptiness..." He mumbles again.

He passes through the door into the next chamber. Chamber C.

C1-17-VX... it gave in last night. Another failure. "..." He says nothing as the bio energy is absorbed back into the facility, the pod shutting down shortly after. He passes pod after pod before he comes to the one Gir is jumping by.

C1-41-RE... He looks through the glass to the being slumbering within. He places a clawed hand on the glass and slowly caresses it, his eyes wide. "It's been weeks now... and she hasn't rejected the energy, this frame has not rejected the soul or the Chemical X... the data I mined from the Starfire test, it worked... a soul and a body without a source..." – "See? I toldya!" – "Indeed... this is indeed one our best attempts yet... I have great hopes for her..." – "Bell Bell Bell Bell!" Gir bounces around happily as X stomps out of the room.

Meanwhile...

* * *

Something is terribly wrong...!

Bunny gasps as the blue sky breaks into a pure black, pieces of the sky falling down as if they were glass, monitors and static present behind what was once the sky!

Is... is the world ending...?! "Boomer!" She yells out, running across the shattered glass, only to realize the lake is dried up and fetid. Boomer always frequents this lake. The meadow...! He must be there! Bunny jumps over toppled logs and newly risen computer monitors. Her purple dress flits and banks at every sudden movement. Her white scarred skin becoming harder and harder to see as the light in this area begins to fade.

She reaches the meadow only to see giant technological spires rupturing the once peaceful ground! What horrifies her more is the fact that Boomer is being hoisted between all five of them by cables! "Y-You?! Who are you?! HELP!" Boomer yells out, once again losing his memory to the point of forgetting Bunny, but she doesn't care, she has to save him!

She rams into one of the spike with her shoulder! It doesn't budge, so she does it over and over! It begins to tilt, a surge of electricity shooting to Boomer, locking his body up, forcing his eyes open and clenching his jaw! "BOOMER! HOLD ON!" She grunts, mustering hidden power within her inner self.

"Grr... grah... GAH!" She yells, her strength peaking... the spire begins to heave, the surge of electricity leaving Boomer and instead entering her! The pain is unbearable and she falls over, losing grip on the spire as it begins to topple. It crashes into another one and knocks it out of order! Three spires are still shocking Boomer, but Bunny is completely out of energy... she can't do anything else...

She looks into the falling sky with tears in her eyes. Boomer screams in the background and her muscles cry out in surrender.

"It will all be over soon Boomer... I promise..." She says, her eyes closing as her mind begins to swim...

* * *

"WHAT IS WRONG?!" X yells at the console, Gir jumping around in a panic. The two kids on the medical beds, ceasing, writhing, convulsing... they...

They are dying...

"They are not READY! This cannot happen! I... I have to activate one of them to stabilize the other..." – "But you said-" – "I know what I said, we don't have a choice... we are going to lose both of them!" Gir whimpers and backs out of the room, seemingly fearful for his life. Cranston also shows a small amount of fear, an emotion he rarely ever experiences.

The kids foam at the mouth and their empty eyes shoot open. If he doesn't do something now, they will most certainly die! He flips several switches and punches in a three layer authorization code. Machines with beakers, vials, and needles descend from the ceiling.

"Which one to activate...?!" He mumbles to himself. But just at that moment, the boy begins to cough up an alarming amount of bile, if he chokes on that, he will be dead within the minute! "Him!" He barks at himself, punching in the final code.

His arms spasm and his legs flail, both bound very tightly upon the medical table. The devices near him and inject him with a stark black Chemical. First one, then another... then another... before long, his heart stops. His glazed eyes staring off into the distance. An astute emptiness crosses his shell.

He is dead...

The girl seems to have stabilized, but her heart rate is still dangerously high. "Medicbots... tend to her now..." He says, defeated... "He... wasn't ready..." Gir lightly steps into the room and looks up at X. "It's okay... our backup plan will work... we will get Bell back, don't you worry... we don't need Shira..." X says to himself, slowly walking out of the room.

But... suddenly...

The room grows cold, colder than a station like this should. The lights explode and X covers his head to avoid the glass falling on him.

Suddenly, the heart rate monitor for the male skyrockets from zero to three hundred in less than a single second! The boy's eyes go wide as his skin begins to steam! "BLOSSSOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!" He roars out, shaking the entire station and blowing his table to pieces! A window is broken and the vacuum of space begins to force its way, sucking everything out!

"GIR, LEAVE, NOW!" – "OKEYYYY!" He squeals, hopping off into a different room. Cranston slams his fist on the ground, rooting himself in place as the wall to this part of the lab begins to crumble. Yet the naked boy just stands there, completely unaffected by the powerful vacuum that forces Cranston to his knees. He looks over to the growing hole in the wall and he raises his hand;

He makes a closing motion with it, as white energy from nowhere materializes along the cracks and the window, forcing it shut and causing the items in mid flight to suddenly drop to the ground. His short golden hair begins to lose color, as if it bleeds off of his person. His skin also bleeds, red blood dripping to the ground. Cranston rises to his feet, but the lad looks up at him, his eyes blood red!

"WHERE... IS... BLOSSOM...?!" He growls, his voice breaking electronics in the room. His newly white hair starting to wave off of him as if the entire room were statically charged. "She... is dead." His fangs begin to show; even his gums are bleeding, his skin still letting off a white steam.

"Are you telling me... that you remember? Everything...?!" – "BLOSSOM... KILLED... MY BROTHERS..." He rubs a bleeding finger down his chest. "ME... TOO..." His voice, still shaking with pure rage booms out, shaking Cranston with every word. "Blossom... IS... dead... and you will be too if you won't settle down." – "DON'T FUCKING TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" He roars out, teleporting in front of X and kicking him into the monitors in the back, causing sparks and explosions to go off! Cranston falls to the ground and begins to cough, all of his many eyes wincing in pain!

The super powered naked boy kneels down and picks him up by the chest and looks in his main eyes. "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY AM I HERE?! WHY AM I NOT DEAD?!" – "I... revived... you... Boomer..." He says with little breath. "WHY...?" – "Does... it matter...?" – "IF YOU DON'T TALK IN THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS, THIS ENTIRE STATION IS GOING UP IN FLAMES. ONE-" – "TO BRING MY LITTLE GIRL BACK!" He blubbers out.

Boomer drops him on the ground and then coughs up blood. Boomer himself begins to feel weak and cold. "I told you... to stay calm..." – "Grr..." – "Please... listen to me... I can't afford to lose you... I need you... LISTEN...!" Boomer shoots another angry eye at Cranston, but his expression is neutral. "What do I have to do?" Cranston rises to his feet and nears a locker and brings out a black cloak.

"This... should suppress the destructive nature of the Shira." He hands it to the bleeding Boomer and he shivers as he puts it on. Almost immediately, he feels better, like his excess energy is being recycled back into him...

Boomer lets out a malicious grin and looks back at Cranston, who returns the gesture. "Haha..." – "Haha..." – "HAHA!" – "BWAHAHAHA!" They both exchange maniacal laughter.

Boomer has returned...


	2. Fragile Family Lives

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 0  
Fragile Family Lives

* * *

A small light hangs above them.

This room is kind of small, filled with mechanical devices to the point of being hard to move.

"Are you sure about this?" – "The Chronometal Wars are behind me. But I still feel them in my skin... I've been in this body for hundreds of years. It's time to leave it behind." – "Alright, I understand. Ruby just left, so she will be back from school in about seven hours. I should be able to round this out in less than six. You will be unconscious the whole time... is that okay?" – "Y-Yeah..." She sounds uncertain. She's lying on a table, stripped completely down. Dexter kneels down.

"We can do this at any time. It doesn't have to be now." – "No, it... it has to be now. I can't keep putting it off. Her birthday is tomorrow, and I want to show her we are capable of being a completely normal family." Dexter smirks, a smartass comment boiling in him. "What is it? What are you thinking?" – "Her mom morphing bodies in a single day doesn't strike me as normal as normal can be, you know?" She furrows her brow. "Dexter..." – "Fine, I know, this is serious. When do you want me to begin? Is there anything you want to do before I send you under?" – "... No. I'm ready." – "Alright... see you in a few."

Within the side of her head, Dexter fiddles around with a few actions. A short electric connection later, and her eyes close. Her body is completely inactive right now. Barasia has told him that she can still kind of feel in this state, and that her body never truly shuts down. If her overriding functions detect an irreparable change, she will be forced awake. He has to be very careful.

She lays completely balanced on a flat surface that is a cross between a surgical bed and a workshop one. Dexter begins with the dangerous meticulous parts first. Starting with the face. They have been planning this for a long time, now.

Barasia is a mother, and a wife. Yet she still looks barely a day over eleven. People are starting to ask questions, her facial scars don't help. Dexter places parts of the aesthetic surface in a holding area for now. The light sways from Dexter's constant back and forth. In a corner are several premade parts, designed by Barasia herself along with Dexter. Made with Nanosteel salvaged from The Knights, they are elongated and even slightly improved versions of the limbs she has now. But they are only in their base forms, frames if nothing else. Things both within and upon must be handcrafted by Dexter.

But there is a feature about them that Barasia insisted upon. They are completely deweaponized. No wrist blade, no hand canon, no eye lasers... No reason to possibly return to that lifestyle...

The first hour passes and Dexter is ready to move onto the more delicate parts of the first and most important operation...

* * *

The School bell rings and she is outside. Waiting... He's late. She looks at her phone; the time says 2:00. Most kids are already home by now. She sighs as one of her friends shows up. Or at least, someone who calls himself her friend, she doesn't really care for him.

"Where's your da- uh... guardian, Kally?" – "He's late... he's never late..." She says with a worried voice, still sitting on the steps down, looking for his car. It doesn't show up. The normal and otherwise nondescript kid sits by her and she looks back. "What about you?" – "Oh, I'm taking new afterschool classes. There's a problem in the gym though, so we have about ten minutes to do whatever." – "Unsupervised?" – "Well I'm so well behaved that they don't worry about me." – "Is that right...?" She asks, bored. "Maybe I should worry about them." She says in jest.

Her head itches and she takes off her hat to scratch it, her now short blue hair spilling out. She puts it back on and settles it. It's... like she's going out of her way to look like someone else. "Do you wanna do something until your dad shows up?" – "I've told you before, he's not my dad." – "Sorry, sorry... I keep getting confused." – "It's okay. But no, I think I'll just wait until he shows up." The kid looks away before getting up. "Well... bye then." – "Yeah, see ya." She says.

Kally knows today is special, although he hasn't quite told her why. But she gets this sinking feeling in her stomach like she will never come back. Someone leaves the school after staying for detention. She goes down the steps, her long red hair banking after every stair. Kally gulps and speaks up, trying to speak to her before she leaves.

"B-Bye, Ruby..." She says in a cracked voice. Ruby looks back. "Oh, Kally. I didn't see you there. Bye, see you tomorrow!" She waves with a heartwarming smile. How does a girl like that get detention anyway? Kally waves back, her heart wrenching. 'Will' she be back tomorrow? "Y-Yeah, see you..."

The detention bus shows up to bring the kids home for the day. Though it seems like Ruby is the only one today. The doors close, the bus steams and then drives off. Kally sighs...

Soon after, a car pulls up and her eyes light up. "About time." She says to herself.

* * *

Dexter is just about done. The pressure in the air is palpable, but all that's left are the arms. The surface is just about done. She looks similar, though different, like a young girl who suddenly aged ten years. She looks twenty now, maybe a little older. Her face no longer has any scars, per her request. They even went clothes shopping earlier for the new specifications.

An adventure Dexter thought he would enjoy more than he did. Though he was in good company, among other men lost in the clothing isles as their better halves string them along. It's a kind of awkward companionship, really.

The front door opens and Dexter hears it. "Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Dexter lets out a sigh of relief, finally done. He activates her waking sequence with an electric current. She slowly opens her eyes, looking into Dexter's.

"Ruby just walked through the door. I'll distract her. Are you ready for this?" The struggles to form a smile with this new face, but shows legitimate happiness. "Of course I am. I'll be ready soon." Dexter nods and leaves the room, going up the stairs to the living room. "Ruby! You're home. How was school?" – "Lousy. I got detention again." Dexter rolls his eyes, Ruby hanging her backpack up in the closet and collapsing on the couch. Dexter sits next to her as she looks over.

"Where's mom?" – "Lynn's just freshening up. She'll be here soon." – "Freshening up? For what?" – "Oh, never you mind. They handed out report cards today, right?" – "Uh... uh huh..." She says with a great deal of pause in her voice. "Come on, let me see..." She takes it out of her pocket and sighs. Dexter unfolds it and his eye is drawn to the two A's. One in P.E., the other in Creative Arts.

"Good... good..." He says, working his way down the list. A couple C's catch his eyes, but nothing too bad. That is until history shows up.

F.

Dexter sighs, hoping that this would have improved by now. "Ruby..." – "I know, okay?! I just don't care about history." – "Ruby, that's not good. We have to know about history or we'll-" – "Repeat the mistakes, yeah, I know. You've told me this like a hundred times. I'm just not good at it, okay?" – "Of course you are, you just aren't doing it. You always skip classes or doze off. Why don't you care about History?" – "Because it's boring and stupid. Who cares about the past? It's the future we have to worry about." She says in a huff, crossing her arms and looking away.

Dexter blinks, unsure of how to respond. "What do you mean?" He says. She does a double take to look him in the eyes before looking away again. She's tapping her foot and breathing a little heavily. She's worried about something. Dexter realizes what it is and sighs.

He scoots next to her and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Look. Ruby... the Chronometal Wars aren't coming back." – "You don't know that." She says, still looking away. "Your mom and I made sure of it. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, your friends, us, or anyone else. I know you're still scared, but I promise you... it will never happen again." She still looks away, defiant. But her lip begins to quiver.

"I'm going to my room." She says, bolting off the couch. "R-Ruby..." He says in vain as she already goes up the stairs. *Sigh*

In the other room, Barasia can't stop looking at herself in the mirror. She does a little twirl, her dress fanning out. She nearly trips, still getting used to her new body. She looks ten years older! Dexter really outdid himself... She raises her arms and smiles when she realizes she can't open them anymore. She's still really strong and she can still fly... but that's okay. All the better to be a "Super Mom!"

She leaves the room and looks at Dexter on the couch. "Where's Ruby?" – "Upstairs." – "Uh oh... did she have another episode...?" – "Nothing too bad, but she's still worried about the wars returning. How can I convince her that they wont?" – "I don't think you can. We just have to wait. She will realize it won't happen soon enough, don't worry." Dexter sighs and leans back in the couch. "Okay, alright. I'll trust you." – "Thanks..." She says, walking off. Dexter looking back.

"You look great, by the way!" He says as she walks off. She smiles as she nears the stairs, putting more emphases on her hips as she walks. "Good lord what have I done...?" Dexter laughs to himself.

* * *

Later, in a strange underground complex.

Blue lights funnel into this place, more high tech than anywhere else on Earth, and that's saying something considering the only place that could scratch this would be Micheal's lab from back in the wars, or the core military institute.

Kally and a large broad shouldered man walk down this hall. Kally looks around, astonished. She's been here once before, but it looks completely different now. "B-Barrett... what's going on...?" She asks him timidly, still looking around. Huge walls open up as they near them, allowing them passage deeper into this vast complex. He says nothing, what he's about to show her is of the utmost importance.

She has to know, now. There is no time left anymore.

One last door opens and someone is already in there waiting for her.

"Alex...?" Kally asks. The black haired girl named Alex looks back at her. She's wearing something that strikes a memory within Kally. She's... She's wearing an Alphametal! "Barrett, what's going on?!" Kally asks, standing her ground as he walks on. He turns around. Barrett is bald and wears a serious face. "Kally, I will show you. You will realize why words won't do this justice in time. Don't dawdle." He says, moving on. He nears the center of the room to a circular computer. Punching a few commands in, Kally moves further in. "Don't screw this up." The young nine year old Alex lets out as Kally walks down. Kally looks back with a puzzled expression on her face.

Screw what up...?

"Kally. I've called you and Alex here for a single reason. Something has happened. Something... horrible." Kally walks up the metal stairs to the center platform Barrett is on. She looks at what he's looking at on the holograph. It looks like a globe of Earth, but there is a solid core of Crystal within it.

"What is that...?" She asks. Barrett says nothing, and instead walks off the platform. "Hey! Where are you going? What is it?" – "If you are worthy... you will find out." Kally's stomach drops. Did he really just say that- did he really just imply that? She might not be worthy?

Alex follows Barrett out of the room. "W-Wait!" Kally blubbers, the doors slamming behind them, leaving her alone in here. The holograph expands to encompass the entire room, blue lights dancing around. She gulps and walks into it to view the crystalline formation within.

She looks at it for a long time. Her phone isn't lying, it's been three hours... she doesn't see anything. She's surprised there is a solid crystal mass in the Earth's core, but other than that... she doesn't know what she's looking for. But before long... she begins to feel light headed.

"Ugh, looking at this light is giving me a headache." She mutters to herself, sitting down. She continues to think, but she can't come to any answers, not to mention her head keeps hurting. She nurses it by rubbing her temples, but it's not working.

"..." – "...?" Kally grunts, certain she just heard something. "Hello?" She says. "Barrett? Alex? Come on, this isn't funny. Are you done torturing me yet? I can't find anything." She says, directing her words to the closed wall. There is no response.

"..." – "There it is again..." She says to herself, her headache getting more severe. "Okay guys, I'm starting to get really scared now, please stop..." She begs. Still no response. "Baron, come on! Please open up! This isn't funny anymore!" She bangs on the wall, but it's solid stone.

"...help..." – "Huh...?!" She says, terrified, looking around the room. Her back is to the wall and her heart is racing a mile a minute. What he heck is going on?! "Guys, just stop! PLEASE!" She says, unable to take this, she begins to cry a small amount.

"You have to help..." – "H-Huh? Who are you...?" – "Please..." – "I... I don't know what I can do to help..." – "You... will try to help...?" She gulps; certain this is what Baron and Alex were talking about.

And she's certain this isn't a joke anymore.

"I will. Please, just tell me what I can do... who are you...?" – "My name... my name is Barthandelus..." – "Bar... tan... del... us?" She sounds the name out. "My name is... Kally... what can I do to help, Barthandelus?" – "..." Nothing. "Are you still there?" – "I don't know if you will... it's... hard." Kally gulps.

"J-Just tell me." – "I need you to..." Barthandelus lets out, choosing not to verbally explain past this point; instead he floods her mind with images and thoughts. Her eyes go wide.

Lava. Explosions. Plague. Death. Monsters, some giant, some even more giant than that. The Earth splitting in two. Mountains crumbling. Oceans drying. People dying. "S-Stop...!" She says, grabbing her head. One last image flashes in her head, the image of a grand dark being floating above all the wreckage. A being with a grand white sword and four vibrant wings. The being's eyes open wide, shocking Kally back into reality.

"Beelzebub..." She says under her voice, speaking a name she's never heard of to a person she cannot see. "You want us... to save the entire world... from Beelzebub..."

* * *

Ruby looks out the window. The sun is going down already; she has a really... really bad feeling in her chest. She usually worries about stuff like this all the time, but now she really feels scared...

She feels a knock at her door. "Come in..." She says. The door opens and a cheery voice follows. "Happy almost birthday!" Lynn walks through the door and Ruby looks back, a look of astonishment crossing her face! "Wh-What the?! What happened to you?" – "Don't I look great?" She says, twirling around with a contented smile on her face. "Yeah, you do! I take it Dad did this?" – "Yeah, he's a miracle worker." – "Wow... you really look... grown up..." She says, remembering that just this morning, she didn't look too much unlike her own almost nine year old self.

Lynn's smile fades as Ruby plops on the bed and stares off into nothing. "Ruby, baby... what's wrong?" – "Same old, same old..." – "No, that look in your eye. It's something different. Tell me." – "Look, I don't know, it's a feeling I can't shake. I can't help but think like... THEY are going to come back and get me..." – "They...?" – "The robots! The giant freaking robots! The Chronometal Wars were crawling with them! They broke the cities, they killed people and shattered-" – "Hey, stop that. The wars are over, you are going to be safe, understand me?" She says, sitting next to Ruby.

"Lynn... I don't know why, but I don't think they are." Lynn blinks, Ruby just resorted to a first name basis. "I promise you, with all my heart, I will not let ANYTHING happen to you, baby, I promise. Okay...? Remember that promise I made you?" – "..." – "I haven't broken it, I will never break it." – "But what about when you have to go...?" – "..."

Lynn puts her hands on her lap. "When I go... the world will be a better place. There will be no Chronometal Wars, and hopefully their memory will fade too. I promise you, I've seen it myself... the world will be fine until then..." – "But what about AFTER then?!" She asks, hysterical. She sits up and Lynn steals her into her arms, her own heart starting to beat faster.

"Then your dad will protect you. He will watch over everyone, as he always has. Nothing bad will happen, even after I'm gone. I promise... I... Promise... okay...?" – "O-Okay..." She says, sniffling within Lynn's arms.

Nine Years. That's all Barasia remembers. She's sure that nine years from now, everything will be fine. The world looked so peaceful when she traveled to that time in the past to create Model B-2. Everything will be okay.

Everything will be okay...

...Won't it...?


	3. Domestic Destruction

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 0  
Domestic Destruction

* * *

A day has passed.

A lazy day it was. Brick yawns, waking up on the couch. The sun is shining through the slightly curtained window. He opens them up to let the full light in. Olga and Bubbles had the upstairs bed; Brick was fine with the couch. He yawns slightly and begins to feel the annoying bite of hunger.

He walks into the kitchen to notice the fridge is filled with condiments... but nothing to eat. "I guess living alone doesn't really allow her to go grocery shopping all that much." He wonders to himself about Bubbles. He looks on the table, more newspaper articles about that rising aide 'Mandy.' Bubbles does seem to be very interested in her. Brick can see why... he guesses at least.

She's young, but incredibly skilled in her field. A person worth admiring. Brick shrugs and drops the newspaper back on the table. He looks in a bucket off to the side of the room with the sign "Food" on it. There's a Fifty Dollar bill in it. "I guess she organizes her money, but doesn't really get around to using it." He wonders to himself a small bit, then takes the money and heads out the door.

He is immediately hit with a cool morning Megaville breeze. He stretches in the warm sun and sighs, before floating slightly. Then he realizes he's not really supposed to call attention to himself anymore and immediately grounds himself. "I... guess I'll jog to the store. Man, this is weird." He says, all of these human activities suddenly catching up to him.

* * *

Dexter too wakes up in his bed alongside his new wife, but she's still asleep. Dexter notices a lump in between them. Ruby snuck in again at night. Dexter sighs and pats the conspicuous lump and gets off of the bed, rubbing his eyes.

Today is the first day of the rest of his life.

Ever since the actions in what came to be called The Panic, he's completely left the hero business. He even sold most of his machinery to the now struggling government. The entire debacle that arose with The Panic, Heroesbane, as well as their own agents such as Micheal going rogue and The Hangar going out of commission, their grasp on anything has been at an all-time low. But now that things have stabilized, Dexter realizes that in order for everyone to be happy, we all have to work together.

So, he's left the bad blood behind and even got himself a job working for them, like he used to do when he was kid. It was never official back when he was simply Dexter, Boy Genius. But now it's in writing. He's employed!

As soon as he walks down the stairs, several automated systems have already prepared him breakfast. It's like an early 90's movie, except the machines aren't going haywire. Dexter knows better than that. He smiles, taking a piece of toast and heading to get dressed.

In very little time, he's already dressed to impress! He straightens out his tie, finishes his quick breakfast and heads to the door.

"Heading out already?" Lynn asks from the stairs. Dexter looks back with a smile on his face. "7:00 sharp. Don't want to be late on my first day, eh?" – "Hmm... I suppose not... but I will be lonely here without you..." She says with a rather flirty tone of voice. "What's on your mind?" Dexter asks. "Oh, nothing. I may have a surprise when you get home. So hurry up!" He chuckles and nods. "I'll be back soon. Love you!" – "Love you too!" Dexter exits the house and Lynn sighs, leaning on a banister.

'The domestic life? Me?' She wonders to herself. But when she hears her little girl waking up upstairs, it's all worth it. This is what she fought so hard to achieve for so long. A peaceful world, her world... She just... never thought it would actually happen.

She knows she's not alone. She knows Dexter is kind of forcing himself into this role as well, but he's adapting well, a lot better than Lynn expected. Lynn looks at the clock. The bus will be here in 30 minutes. She walks up the stairs to notice that Ruby is already in the shower. She smiles a small bit and heads downstairs again, preparing the automated breakfast maker.

"Dexter sure does find creative ways to adapt his past life into this family lifestyle. I mean, this whole breakfast machine may be a little much... but he already got a job. It's only been a couple of days. I wonder... what can I do?" She wonders to herself. She is also very fluent in robotics. Well, considering her past... she DID kind of create most of the Chronometals... She rolls her eyes at her passing thoughts.

"Hmm... maybe I could create a robot... maid?" She shakes her head and heads upstairs to change out of her sleep clothes.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Boomer sits on a metal chair. His entire body is covered by the black cloak, not even his face, or hands are visible. Black boots and black gloves fade effortlessly into the rest of the costume. He sits, his ungodly powers churning out and back into itself, creating what feels like an infinite loop.

"What... am... I...?" He wonders to himself. Small robots fly around, scanning Boomer. X told him to wait here as he conducts tests. Boomer doesn't care, but after that whole mess... he could feel his life slipping. For what it's worth, Cranston DID bring him back to life...

"Okay, Boomer. We're done." X lets out through the intercom. Brick looks up. "So... now what?" – "Well... I will be honest with you. You awoke far ahead of schedule. My plans are still within the first phases. Your early awakening was unforeseen... but as we now are both aware, it was quite successful."

"... What about Bunny?" – "The girl? She has a name...?" – "Yes... she told me within... within whatever the hell that place was." – "It was a consciousness generator. One of my personal inventions for keeping near death people alive and mentally healthy for long periods of time. I didn't expect either of you to even remember anything." – "Well... I can remember everything now, but I didn't within the machine..." – "Oh...?"

Cranston opens the door and walks down into the chamber with the black clad Boomer. "Are you saying that you forgot everything within that environment, but remember everything now...?" – "Yes..." – "What about... this Bunny? Did she forget everything as well?" – "As a matter of fact, no. As I was forgetting more and more, she was remembering more and more. She kept talking about the outside world and wanting to get out." – "Hmm..." X puts a clawed finger to his chin.

"But now you remember... I wonder..." He says, lost in thought wandering back up the stairs. "Cranston, wait." He turns back. "Your name... it seems familiar to me. What is... your last name...?" – "Hmm? Why ever would you want to know?" – "It's Utonium, isn't it?" – "Perhaps. But I have long since shunned my humanity." – "You said that Blossom is dead. Is that true? Are they all dead?"

"No. Only Blossom is dead. She died fighting Model M." – "Model M...? I thought..." Boomer pauses, his face still completely hidden in the darkness of his cloak. "I see... My brothers are dead, Blossom is dead... my entire world is empty now." – "Well-" X mutters before stopping himself.

"What...? What is it?" – "It's... it's nothing. Forget I said anything." – "It's not nothing. Nothing you have ever said has been nothing. Tell me..." – "..."

Black Eden goes quiet. Not even the sound of machinery is present anymore.

"One of your brothers yet lives..." Boomer steps forward. "R-Really?! Who?!" – "Brick. He is still alive. I have been watching his movement for a long time. In fact, it was his magnificent strength that gave me the data required to perfect The Shira, the technology that gave you new life."

"Where? Where is he? Can... Can I see him?" – "He still lives within Megaville. But he's living with..." – "With...?"

"He is living with Bubbles."

"Wh-What?! Has he forgotten that the Powerpuff Girls are the ones responsible for our deaths?!" Still facing away from Boomer, Cranston raises an eyebrow. He may be able to use this anger...

"Perhaps. Perhaps he has simply forgotten the pain after all this time. Maybe he has grown weak, maybe she has brainwashed him. I simply observe them, I cannot read their minds." – "Grr...!" – "But as I said, my plans are still within their early stages. We cannot make a move yet." – "Maybe YOU can't... but I'm a different story!" Boomer exclaims. X turns around. "What do you mean?" – "Tell me exactly where they are and I'll show you!"

* * *

Bubbles and Olga are awake, bathed, and dressed. But there is an itch in the back of Olga's mind. She rubs her head, beckoning a response from Bubbles.

"Olga? What's wrong...?" – "Oww... something... new hurts..." – "New?" – "It hasn't hurt like this before, it feels... hot..." – "Hot? I... don't know... do you want some Aspirin?" – "No, it's not a headache. I don't know, I've never felt this before...! It feels like a fireball is coming for us...!" Bubbles looks out the window but doesn't see anything. Olga looks over.

"Bubbles, please! Something is out there, and it's coming for us!" Bubbles has no idea what to make of this, but she flies out the window regardless of her own advice and looks into the sky once she lands on the roof.

Olga was right... there IS something here... but what...? Bubbles defensively looks around the entire sky, looking for whatever is causing this energy. What feels like an electric shock crosses her mind and she turns around and blocks an incredibly powerful blast with her one arm! It knocks her off the roof and onto the ground! That blast burnt her hand something bad...! She growls and raises her hand to the house! Before long, a floating Chronometal flies out and combines with her!

As her own suit black armor binds her to body, she looks back into the sky to view her assailant.

It's a person in a dark cloak!

"Bubbles..." He hisses out...


	4. Growls from the Dark Abyss

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 0  
Growls from the Dark Abyss

* * *

The sky darkens.

Bubbles has never felt a power like this before, yet it feels familiar. In a very BAD way. Like a ghost from the past come to wreak its horrible vengeance. Her Chronometal imbued arms flare a black flame, fully attuning itself to her body. Her short blonde hair being replaced with long black hair. Smooth black bladed rivets are cut into the armor, carvings of angels and scripture apparent upon every black surfacing.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?!" Bubbles roars out in demand! The black hooded man descends to the ground below just outside of her house. Before her eyes, two red lasers extend from his gloves, like light sabers! They burn and electrify out of his palms. He chuckles a small amount, his cloak making subtle movements as he does so.

"Remember me... forget me... neither matters. What matters to me is your timely death, Bubbles!" The sky swirls and darkens even though it is only mid day! This man's catastrophic power is affecting the very world around him!

Olga timidly looks out the window to see them staring each other down.

Bubbles growls and takes what looks like a hilt out of her pocket and she holds it to her chest. After a short while, she whips it back, parts of her Chronometal binding to the hilt and creating a flawless black sword! The density and quality of the blade sings in the air, resonating with the palpable energy let off by the being in front of her. She takes it with both hands and goes into a defensive posture.

The man's laser blades melt the ground as he slowly walks over to her. Grass flashes to a crisp, soil turns to soot, and stone turns to magma. As he nears Bubbles she begins to circle around, not letting him get too close.

He lashes out at her, only to have the black blade collide with his at light speed, causing a shockwave to echo out, blowing the windows of the house to pieces and causing Olga to duck! The laser grinds against the black blade, much to the individual's surprise! This energy can cut through anything, but the blade is perfectly fine!

They both grunt, trying to overpower one another, before Bubbles realizes that he is only using one of his hands! He hooks back with his other hand, hoping to blast her in half in a single hit, only to have her take off away from the house!

She doesn't get far before he materializes in front of her and causes a wave of dark energy to bar her escape routes! He charges her with both sabers at the ready! She has no choice but to block! They collide with each other with a force strong enough to blow the dark walls to pieces! Rain begins to fall as the sky completely darkens! Black lightning strikes a nearby tree in half as it begins to dematerialize into dark matter!

"What... the hell... are you...?!" She grunts, still holding him off! Her armored feet grind against the ground as his strength is more than enough to force her back with little effort. She still cannot see his face through the hood! A white mist leaves his hood as he whispers. "Shira..." He blasts the black sword out of her hand and goes in for the kill! But she musters a blue aura around her newly acquired right arm and summons a shockwave to blow him back!

The sword spins on the ground before making its way back to Bubbles! The man lands perfectly on his feet and brushes off his robe. "A sentient blade...?" He wonders to himself as the blade twirls in Bubbles' hand, unsure of who is guiding who.

The laser blades recede and he cracks his knuckles. Bubbles is still defending, unsure of any tricks he may have. He raises a finger at Bubbles, a red laser blast firing from it and cutting her face! Blood is instantly drawn and begins to leak. Bubbles grits her teeth and keeps close attention to his extremities.

He fires shot after shot, her dodging and smacking them back at every possible chance! The black storm around them churns, trees being uprooted, people screaming in the background! Bubbles' eyes go wide!

"Stop it! You're hurting them! This is between us!" – "Oh? Just what makes you think I care about them? They are nothing." – "You son of a-!" She bellows, finally going on the offensive! She strikes down and he catches the blade with one hand, seemingly unimpressed, but she takes an aura infused left hook to his chest and blows him back! "Guah...!" He exclaims!

He growls, white energy flowing out of every opening in his black cloak! Suddenly, someone arrives at the battlefield!

"Bubbles! Are you okay?! What's going on...?!" Brick, the new arrival lets out before trailing off, looking at the being before him. The black hooded man also pauses.

"Brick...?" He lets out. "Boomer...?" – "BOOMER?!" Bubbles blurts!

Brick slowly walks over to Boomer, but he bounds backwards and extends his blades. "Step aside, Brother. You were too weak to finish the job, now it's my responsibility to claim revenge!" – "Boomer, stop! This is not the way!" Brick yells out! "HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT HAS HAPPENED?!" – "Blossom may have killed Butch... but Bubbles did NOT! Bubbles had nothing to do with this!" – "So you will defend her?" – "If I must, even from you!" – "YOU ARE A FUCKING IDIOT!" He roars, the ground cracking and nearly knocking Brick back, his long red hair blowing in the dark breeze!

"WHAT WOULD BUTCH THINK OF YOU NOW?! SIDING WITH HIS MURDERERS, FIGHTING YOUR OWN GOD DAMNED BROTHER!" White electricity surges around Boomer, his energy reaching critical mass!

But then...

Brick feels a familiar power within his bosom. His heart begins to feel lighter as a nostalgic energy begins to fill him. He comes to a tear jerking realization. He closes his eyes and smiles... His eyes explode open! Energy is blown off of him in all direction! His eyes turn green and a green electricity dances around his very being.

"I think I know what Butch would think, Boomer..." He points at Boomer who nearly stumbles at the gesture. "He would tell me to stop you!" Brick goes into a battle position, green energy swirling around his fists! "You... you're lying... that cannot be Butch! Butch is DEAD!" – "Butch now lives within me. I am disappointed in myself that I did not realize it earlier, but it all finally makes sense!" Boomer growls and lunges at Brick, cars and pavement behind him blowing into the air at the sheer power of his takeoff!

He takes out his two laser blades in the shape of an X and begins to bear down on him! But Brick also crosses his arms and meets the blades head on! Black and White, Red and Green, the air spirals with a chaotic mixture of elements! An energy tornado forms around them and Bubbles looks back at the house! "O-Olga!" She yells, jumping through the shattered window!

Bubbles takes the passed out Olga and gives her a shoulder before flying out of the window again! This time she leaves the battlefield altogether... she is sure that this battle was meant for Brick all along...

Brick's bare arms meet the stone melting blades on equal ground, green energy spiraling around, forming both a defense and an offense! Brick takes a strong hit to Boomer's hooded face, blowing him backwards with a shockwave! He lands on his feet, but Brick is already back in attack mode! Before Boomer can react, Brick lands another bone shattering punch! One to the face, one to the chest, one to the ribs! He firmly places his feet on the ground for this one!

He takes his two arms out as in one hand, red energy funnels into an orb and in the other hand, green energy funnels into an orb! Before Boomer can realize what is happening, Brick combines them and they explode into a beam of pure energy! Boomer raises dark shields, but one after another they are shattered as if they were made of glass! He takes the full force to the chest and is blown backwards, but then Brick wills the beam upwards, knocking him into the stormy sky!

The beam runs out of energy in space, Boomer coughing and buckling from the pain. Brick is already up here as well. He forms a fist, his knuckles cracking on their own, red and green electricity forming around them.

"Damn it... b-brother... why...?! Why are you siding with... with our murderers...!" – "This isn't about that any longer, Boomer..." – "Then what...?!" – "This is about letting go of the past, and moving on." – "Wh-What?! What are you saying?!" – "I am saying it's time to leave it all behind. Men seeking revenge have made more graves on this planet than should have been possible. I will not let our pathetic feud fuel any more destruction. This much I learned from you..."

"What...? From... me?" – "You may not remember, it may have just been a dream, but one day... I learned an important lesson from you. A lesson I still follow to this day, a lesson of both strength and forgiveness." All of the actions from before have blown Boomer's cowl off.

His face is one of anger and anguish, his eyes and hair are pure white, devoid of any coloration. His teeth grit! "To what end, Brother?! To grow old and die?! To not achieve anything?! What is left?! I have nothing left but my anger!" – "Boomer... It's not too late, for anything. You can still be happy, I'm glad to see you alive, but... I know there is a burning within you. I've seen it before." Boomer's eyes go wide. "What...?! You have?!" Boomer doesn't know what to think... was he not the first of his kind?

"She was a kindhearted girl who knew nothing but happiness. But Cranston killed her for nothing more than a test! She looked just like you! White hair, white eyes, she said that her soul was on fire and she couldn't control herself!" – "I am different!" Boomer yells out! "I have control over my body and mind! I control my own fate!" – "Then stop this! You don't have to be a slave to Cranston!" – "And what? Go back to a world with THEM?! No, brother. I'm not like you; I will not go back to that life!" Boomer explodes away, leaving a trail of white energy. "Boomer! NO! WAIT!" Brick yells in vain.

He's gone.

* * *

From her patio, Lynn sees what looks like a white shooting star in the sky. She buries whatever cold logic she has in her mind and closes her eyes.

She is making a wish... and she is making it very hard. Dexter walks onto the patio with her. "What's up?" He says, getting no response for a few moments. He looks into the darkened sky, stars twinkling and everything. Lynn looks up after taking a short breath in the cold Colorado night.

"I was... just doing something silly." – "It... looked like you were praying. Something on your mind?" – "Well... if you must know, I saw a shooting star... so I was making a wish." Dexter raises an eyebrow and smiles. He sits by her. Her long flowing hair reaches the flooring as she sits. There are no chairs on this patio; they are sitting on wood flooring.

"Oh yeah? For what?" – "Won't it not come true if I tell you?" – "Well, maybe. Does it involve me?" – "Well, yes... why?" – "Maybe I can help it come true." He suggests with a wink. She rolls her eyes and blushes a small bit as she musters the nerve to confess her wish.

"I... was wishing..." She pauses, shaking her head. "No, come on. Tell me." She sighs and looks him in the eye.

"I was wishing for a bigger family. Dexter... I want a baby."


	5. New Blood

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 0  
New Blood

* * *

"OH GOD GET AWAY!"

A woman yells out, a strange creature rampaging through the streets! It looks like nothing anyone has ever seen before! It's like a spider, but the size of an elephant and made entirely out of crystal! It's sharp legs dig into the street as it skitters along, adamantly set on cleaving all in its path!

It's jaws leak a black liquid that forms into a mist as it chatters! Before long, the group of people is backed against a wall! One of the adults moves forwards with a large stick, attracting its attention! The stick is bashed out of his hand and the man slides back to the group as the crystal spider begins to barrel down on them!

But then, a gunshot fires out! Everyone gets down as the sound of shattering glass hits the spider! It quickly rebounds to a wall and looks around, spying what looks like a kid on the roof. The kid smiles sarcastically, spitting the cigarette out of his mouth. He can't be any older than ten. His skin is a little tanned from all the time he spends outside and his short hair is a bright blonde.

"Come get some you piece of crap!" He yells out, taking aim at the spider again! He is wielding a very cumbersome sniper rifle! A shot goes out, but the kid braces himself expertly, and although his small frame shudders from the blast, his skill with this weapon allows himself to withstand the recoil. The blast hits the crystal spider's jaws, blowing one of them clean off! It hisses and quickly skitters up the apposing wall! The kid is on the other side of the road, on top of his own building.

"I don't know why I knew something would be here, but I guess that's not important." He says, cocking the weapon, having a five inch bullet casing clink against the round, steaming. He takes aim again as the spider leaps at him! He quickly jumps off of the building before it reaches him! The people below gasp as he falls! Many cover their eyes, but he lands in a dumpster and quickly scrambles out of it, still with a sarcastic look on his face!

"ONE OF YOU, COVER ME!" He commands at the group, throwing his giant sniper rifle at them! One of the women snatches it in mid air and nods. The kid takes another weapon out of his satchel; it's an automatic sub-machine gun. Placing the magazine within, the Spider crashes down! "Don't fire until I tell you to!" The spider slinks towards him as he unloads a concentrated burst of bullets on one of its knees, quickly blasting its lower leg off and having it hiss in pain!

He scurries to a building at the end of the street and quickly runs up a ladder present outside of the apartment windows! The spider quickly closes the gap! "NOW! AIM FOR HIS HEAD!" The woman in the back takes an aimed shot and as the spider goes vertical in an attempt to consume the child, a well placed sniper round enters the back of its head! But it's not done yet; it diverts its attention and turns around!

But the kid takes that moment to jump onto its back! He takes his weapon and plants the barrel up to its crystalline brain! "YAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" He yells out as the sub-machine gun fires its entire container of ammunition! The crystal spider crashes to the ground and bursts into sand. It's dead!

The absolutely astonished group of people begins to cheer! He rubs his nose and walks up to the woman. She speaks up. "Wow, kid. You're not bad. Who are you?" – "The name is Noss, and I'll be taking that back now." He says, taking the sniper from her hands, causing her to have a weird expression to cross her face.

"Should... I let you keep those...? You're just a kid." She says, trying to fight back the laughter, both from the relief of still being alive, and from the absolute absurdity of her question. "If I wasn't here, with these, you would all be dead. I think you can make an exception, Major." Noss lets out, noticing a military patch on the woman's shirt. She raises an eyebrow.

"You're an interesting kid, Noss... and you did save our lives. Just keep that stuff under wraps." – "That's what I've been doing. So long." He says, walking off with a mock salute. He straps the rifle to his back and begins to climb back up to the top of the building.

The group of people below takes time to breathe and hug each other before eventually making it out of the corner they were huddled in. Some walk over to the dust pile that was once a formidable crystalline spider.

He looks into the sky, now certain he is alone on top of this building. "Alright, Barthandelus. I'm now sufficiently convinced that you're real and I'm not insane. What do you want me to do?" He yells. "You did well; Noss... those people would have been dead without you. For a child, your skills are impeccable... there is a group that I would like for you to find..." – "A group, eh? Of people like me?" – "Precisely, of children no less, shepherded by a man with great vision, a man who will save this world." – "Sounds tight. Give me the place and I'll be on my way, destiny's callin'."

* * *

It's night.

"Uh, Dexter's going to be here soon." – "What?" Bubbles says from the other room. The house is undergoing repairs after what happened. Brick points at the phone. "It vibrated, I spared a passing glance. It said it was from Dexter, he said he would be here soon." – "Really? But why...? Oh... wait, now I remember..." She looks out the window with a weird expression.

"Has it already been almost a year?" – "Year...? OH! Right! Dexter's going to show up with that thing for Olga, the yearly replacement." – "Yeah... I wonder what we're going to talk about." – "How about all the crazy stuff that has been happening?" Brick suggests with a smile on his face. But Bubbles looks back with a sour expression.

"What? Was it something I said?" – "Well... Dexter and Olga are trying really hard to stay out of... you know, all of this. If we bring up that there is a psychotic Boomer on the loose, he will have to abandon his family..." – "Oh... right..." He says, also looking out the window.

Olga sits on the couch with them. "I... haven't seen Dexter in a while..." She says. "He should be here soon. Don't worry!" Olga smiles a small bit. "I'm... actually a little excited...!"

A small amount of time passes, the sun starting to go down before Bubbles hears a knock at the door, amongst all of the other housework going on by city employees.

She opens the door and her face lights up! "Dexter! So glad to see you!" They exchange a friendly hug, Bubbles doing her best with one arm. Embarrassingly, she breaks it off and laughs a small bit. "Oh, come in, come in." – "Thank you." Dexter walks in and Bubbles notices that a woman follows him in, a woman she doesn't recognize. She notices the look Bubbles is giving her and turns around.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it Bubbles?" The voice shocks Bubbles back into reality. "Lynn...? Is that you?! You look completely different!" – "I know! Dexter helped..." They begin idle chatter as Dexter moves farther into the house to make eye contact with Brick and Olga.

Brick and Dexter merely exchange informal hand gestures, but Olga gets off of the couch entirely and walks over to Dexter. Dexter is completely amazed she's even able to acknowledge his existence, let alone walk over to him. "Dexter... it's... it's been almost an entire year..." She says sadly, looking him up and down.

"Olga... I'm... I'm astonished you are able to walk and to... to talk! How long have you been like this?" – "I've... been getting better, but I would have to say... maybe a few months ago. I started walking around on my own and making my own food. Now, I still feel a little weak... but... much better, thanks to whatever it is you're doing. Which, by the way... what is it?"

"Oh, this?" He asks, pulling something out of his pocket. It looks like a small canister. "This is a vial of nano-probes." – "N... Nano Probes?" Olga blurts. "Yes, they've been slowly repairing your body and stimulating your failing bodily processes. Not to mention some of them serve a vital function." – "Really? And what would that be?" – "I'll tell you as I'm replacing your current one. Do you have a room? A place for privacy?" – "P-Privacy?" She says with a reddish face.

"I... share a room with Bubbles... upstairs..." – "That's great. Do you want to get this done now, or later?" Dexter asks. Olga breaths a little bit and thinks to herself. "Now... definitely now..." She says enigmatically. "Oh, okay-oop!" Dexter exclaims, Olga rushing him upstairs. Lynn notices this and raises an eyebrow, but turns back to Bubbles.

They are about to finish their catching up. "Well, that's great. I'm glad to hear Ruby is doing alright. But, you said something a while back, something about... a baby?" – "Oh, right, that was kind of the reason I came along. You see, Dexter and I... well... we want another kid." – "Really...? Are you adopting?" – "Well, no, not really..."

Bubbles looks confused.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Kally and Alex sit outside of the main chambers, awaiting further instruction. Alex's eyes are closed and she's deep in thought, but Kally is twiddling her thumbs. She seems restless. Alex opens her eyes and look at her from across the room, as they are sitting on benches on the opposite sides.

"Will you stop that, please? I'm trying to focus." Alex lets out. Kally looks over. "I'm... sorry. I was just thinking about the people at school... I wonder how they're doing..." – "You're still on about that? It's been months. We are living in different worlds now." – "I know, I know..." Kally still looks down and keeps fidgeting. Alex rolls her eyes and gets up. She walks over to her bench and sits down next to Kally. "...?"

"Look. We're family, you and I. We are both in this together, okay?" – "..." – "Stop worrying, we won't let anything happen to you. Your friends will be fine... they are fine. That's why we're here. Barrett says that when everything is prepared, we will be saving this world." – "I know... but I'm still not sure..." – "..."

Alex goes silent for a small moment. "I'm going to be honest, Kally... I'm not sure either. But we have to trust Father Baron, okay?" – "Okay..."

The huge stone walls open up and the man himself walks out of it. He looks over to the bench with Kally and Alex on it and raises an eyebrow. "Y'all are getting along well. That's good, keep yourselves in this mindset; we are going to have a new family member joining us soon." He walks down the hall, beckoning them to follow.

"Wait, really? Who?" Alex asks; her short black hair waving as she runs up to his side. "It's a young man named Noss. Barthandelus was telling me about him, we will be our fifth member." – "Fifth? You mean Izzy really is a part of our group? But he's just a baby." Kally lets out. "True, he is but an infant, but our plan has a ten year timer. He will be ready by the end, I promise you. He was chosen by Barthandelus as well, never forget that." – "Yes sir." She says with a nod.

"Also..." Kally says softly, almost being unheard by Barrett. "Hmm? What is it, girl?" – "Have... have you found anything out about my dad?" – "I'm afraid not. I'm still looking. I'll tell you as soon as I find something." Kally nods. "Th-Thank you..."

They walk up the ramp and begin to leave this underground complex.


	6. Pain and Promise

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 0  
Pain and Promise

* * *

"FUCK!"

Bubbles slams on the table, knocking surgical devices and mechanical devices into the air and across the room! She puts her fingers to her face, squinting and recoiling from the pain. All the while muttering obscenities that would make a sailor blush.

"Bubbles, please calm down... should we still be doing this?" – "Look you fucker, it was part of the deal!" She says tears dropping down her cheek, but she's smiling, taking this entire silly ordeal at face value. "I-I know, but if it's too much-" – "It's not too much, okay?! God damn." She growls, grinding her nails on the arm of the surgeon's chair.

Dexter fiddles around with a kind of mechanical arm on her right side. "You know, your Model B-2 gives you an arm... this isn't required..." – "Like hell it isn't. I don't wanna be trapped in it all the time; it makes me feel GOD DAMN IT!" She blurts out mid sentence as a spike of pain rushes up her arm causing her to wince and slam her hand on the arm of the chair, snapping it off and causing it to slide across the floor.

She gulps and sighs as Dexter's face goes red, trying not to laugh or cry. "It... makes me feel... weird... when I use it... at least this way I can do normal stuff and not catch eyes..." She's right. This arm may look incredibly robotic now, but some prosthetic plaster will make it looks just like her opposing arm. Dexter is really good at this kind of stuff;

Barasia is living proof of that.

Speak of; she pokes her head in the room holding what looks like a chair arm. "Do you guys need help? Pff..." She sputters, trying not to giggle. "No, I'm... just... no... wait, actually-" Bubbles cuts herself off, looking back at Lynn. "Do you guys have anything alcoholic?" Lynn raises an eyebrow. "Well, we have some stuff, yes..." – "Give me the strongest shit you got HOLY HELL DEXTER FUCK YOU!" She says, forming a fist and nearly hitting him in the head, instead directing it at her own leg. Her teeth are bared and she is still wincing.

"I'll... get some out of the freezer, hold tight. Good luck you two." Lynn says with a large smile on her face, entering the kitchen.

"I didn't even know you knew these words, haha..." Dexter breaks into a cold sweat as she gives him a deadly stare that could turn Medusa to stone. "Just keep doing... what you're doing..." Bubbles' senses are starting to muddle, her jaw is slacked and a small amount of drool drips from the side of her mouth. Lynn reenters the room with some high quality Vodka.

"Will this do? Do you want a cup- oh!" She exclaims as Bubbles snatches it out of her hand and bites the cork out and spits it across the room. Without any hesitation she instantly begins to chug straight from the bottle. At first Lynn simply looks on along with Dexter, but their eyes both go wide as it is more than half drained.

"Jesus Bubbles..." Dexter whimpers. Nearly all gone, she rips it from her mouth and takes a huge breath, her eyes firing open. A couple gasps later, the only word to come out of her mouth is-

"Fuck..." She says, her vision starting to sparkle and her face breaking into a smile. She looks over at Lynn and relaxes into the back of her chair as Dexter continues his work. "You know, Lynn... you're... a good fucking person..." – "Eh? Wh-Why thank you..." – "No, I mean it. You've done... ALL this work and you're taking care of that poor fucking kid, I mean... you're a god damned saint." – "You mean Ruby? Yes, thank you Bubbles, I'm going to go-" – "Oh come on! Stop being so damn modest! Ruby's a good kid, and I'm sure everything will work out." Her head spins around to meet Dexter. Lynn walks out of the room.

"Good luck." Lynn winks as Dexter scowls before turning back to Bubbles. "Kshhk...!" She winces as more pain shoots up her new arm, but this time she breaks out into laughter. "You know... I didn't get a chance to thank you for this, Dexter... thanks..." She says, her face starting to flush from the alcohol going straight to her head.

She can't really handle her Vodka, that's for sure.

"You're welcome, this arm should help you out soon-" – "NOT THAT you idiot..." She says, nearly burping. She looks at her stomach and begins to rub it. "This..." She whispers. "O-Oh, that... well, I should be thanking you, really. I didn't think you would be so accepting of it." – "Are you kidding? Man, when I was a kid..." She says, relaxing back into the chair once again, staring off into space, remembering her youth.

"Man, I wanted to start a family so bad. I always dreamed of having a son, a daughter, and maybe a good husband, but honestly the whole husband thing was an afterthought. I really just wanted kids..." She says, hiccupping all the way.

"Well I guess we have a happy coincidence then. I'm glad to have you as a friend, Bubbles." He says with a smile, causing her to look back in shock. Before bursting out in laughter, causing Dexter to blush. "Wh-What? What did I say?" – "Bahah! Stop being so serious, man! WHEW this is some STRONG FUCKING SHIT." She says, her eyelids growing heavy. Were it not for the constant jolts of pain up her arm she would probably pass out right here.

"Almost done here... all that's left is the plaster." – "Wait... what? You mean the painful part is over...?" She says, her eyes so tired that her pupils might just stare in different directions from the lack of focus. "Yes, do you want to lie down while I do this part- Whoa hey?!" He exclaims as she falls out of the chair. He gets up to check if she's okay, but she begins to snore really loudly and he can't help but blush again.

"Damn Bubbles, remind me to never take you to a bar..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the other room...

Lynn sits properly on a chair, minding perfect manners. Brick however is slumped on a lazy boy living chair, all four limbs in different directions. Olga sits casually, looking Lynn up and down. Lynn doesn't notice, instead listening in on the other room. Apparently the operation is about over. Dexter begins to slump Bubbles out, supporting her with his shoulder. Brick catches eye and gets up.

"Need any help-" – "YES PLEASE, DAMN SHE'S DENSE!" He says, his strength giving out. Brick in the knick of time goes to the other side of Bubbles and helps Dexter stay up. Now taking his fair share of the dense Powerpuff's weight, they both head upstairs. "We won't be long, Lynn... be down soon." – "Alright, take your time." She says, turning back to the coffee table, before finally noticing that Olga is looking her up and down.

"What is it, Olga?" Olga says nothing; she just continues to stare at her. Different parts of her. First the hair, then the face, then the arms, then the chest... everything. Lynn cocks her head. "Do... I... know you?" She finally says. At first Lynn seems confused and then gets shocked into realization.

"Oh, right... My body has changed since the wars. I am Barasia." Lynn says, putting her hand to her chest in sign language. "A lot of people call my Lynn now. You can call me whichever you prefer." – "Lynn... that's a nice name..." She says, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you, Lynn." – "Wait, what do you mean?" – "...?" Olga looks confused. "I just said I was Barasia, you know... we've met before. A couple of times actually. I think I called myself the Black Mother when we first met..." – "Black... mother...?" Olga scratches her head, causing her long hair to shake and bank. She eventually shakes her head.

"I... don't remember..." – "Oh... your memory must still be recovering. I don't want to pressure you." – "No, it's... no trouble... you seemed very interesting, but I didn't want to say anything... I'm sorry that I don't remember you, Lynn..." – "Haha, it's alright, it's not your fault." – "..." More silence crosses the room.

"Hey..." Olga asks. "Hmm?" – "Do you know who that blonde haired girl is?" – "Blonde- wait, do you mean Bubbles?" – "Is that her name? I don't know why... but it feels like..." She shakes her head and her back begins to itch. She tries to scratch it, but can't reach it. She begins to grunt; frustrated. "Do... you need help?" – "Yes, please... my back is itchy but I can't get to it..." Lynn stands up and walks over to the couch Olga is sitting on. She plops down next to her and looks at her back. Olga takes off her shirt and points to the area she wants to be scratched.

It's at the base of her spine, where the mechanical implants Dexter and Mekel put into her end. Lynn begins to run her finger roughly onto the spot and Olga sighs in relief. "Oh, yeah... that's the spot, thank you so much..." She says, her eyes closing. "No problem. But, if you don't mind me asking, I thought you already remembered Bubbles...?" Olga opens her eyes and stares off into space.

"I thought I did too... but it feels like my memories are... leaking or something..." – "Leaking? That's... that's not good. Leaking how? What exactly are you feeling?" – "Like... my mind is cold... and I can feel something dripping out of it. Like... like a sponge that slowly dries itself out by gradually dripping water out of it. When I got out of the hospital, I started remembering a lot really fast... but now it feels like all I'm doing is forgetting again..." She crosses her arms, beginning to feel cold. She puts her shirt back on, the itch thoroughly scratched.

"Thank you, Lynn." – "Mhm." She lets out, returning to her chair. "Lynn?" – "What is it?" – "There's... this thing I've been remembering though, but my memory is so flimsy that I don't even know if it's mine or not, it's so weird." – "Oh? What's that, what memory?" – "I... remember a gigantic crystal, with a person in it... a metal person..." – "A metal person...?" – "A metal person with a wing at his back, a fleshy metal wing." Lynn's eyes go wide. "Briarus...?" – "Is... that his name? No, I'm... I'm remembering a different name..." – "A different name...?"

"Barthandelus...?" – "...!"

* * *

"Hey."

A blonde haired kid casually walks up to this high tech lab, drawn here by Barthandelus's words. A large broad shouldered man raises an eyebrow. "Are you him? The kid 'he' sent?" – "I'm here of my own will, I'm not following anyone's orders. But if you're asking how I found this place, yes, 'he' gave me directions." The man grins.

"My name is Barrett." He extends a hand that the small boy shakes with a neutral expression on his face. "Noss. Nice to meet you, Barrett." – "You may call me Baron, if you wish, Noss. Please, come inside... I have people you would want to meet." – "Ah, yes. The child prodigies just like me. I've been dying to meet them."

Baron and Noss walk into the high tech lab, Noss surprisingly unamused by all the gadgets and whistling in the background. He seems surprisingly comfy in this alien environment. The stone walls part and Noss heads inside to meet with his 'co-workers.' Baron says a few things before walking off. "I have thing I must do, don't be a stranger, now." – "Yup."

Noss walks into the room and instantly catches the eye of the two girls in here. Noss raises an eyebrow. "Two girls, huh? I was expecting a guy or two." – "Huh? What is that supposed to mean?" The black haired one Alex lets out. Noss shrugs. "Nothing, just thinking out loud." – "Uh huh. My name is Alex, I have a feeling we are going to be 'great' friends." She says, sarcasm dripping from her fangs. She sits back down and continues reading whatever book she had initially.

The other girl walks up to him and although she was confident at first, now she doesn't know what to do. Bow? Curtsy? She quickly finds herself flustered and forces her hand out, beckoning him to shake it. He shrugs and does so. "Noss." – "K-Kally. Nice to meet you." – "Are you always like this?" He asks directly. She sighs and shakes her head. "Sorry... it's been a while, I kind of forgot what it feels like to meet new people." Noss looks Kally up and down. He nods to himself, grinning a small bit. "What? What are you doing?" – "Nothing, nothing. I'm sure we're going to be 'great' friends." Noss exclaims. She raises an eyebrow.

"So what is there to do around here?" – "Wait until you're given an order." Alex lets out, not breaking focus from her book. "What, is that it? No games, no playground, no guns, nothing?" – "Guns...?" Kally lets out. "Oh, right. I forgot to introduce the most interesting part of myself." Noss exclaims, pulling an Uzi out from his belt satchel. Kally's eyes go wide.

"Wh-What are you doing with that? Is that real...?" – "Oh it's real. What, I thought we were all these super special kids! I thought you all had equally awesome stuff, are you really so surprised? Barthandelus made it sound like you guys were really well armed and stuff." He looks over to Alex who still isn't breaking focus. "But it seems like you guys are a bunch of boring... KIDS." Alex finally breaks focus and raises an eyebrow. She makes eye contact with Noss.

"Come with me." She says, walking up and leaving the room. Noss shrugs and follows her. Kally, not wanting to be left behind also follow suit.

A short time of wandering later, they find themselves in a large brightly lit room that is still underground and part of this entire installation. It seems to be a training room of sorts. "Arm yourself with what you're good with." She exclaims. "What do you mean? You mean my guns?" Noss asks. "Yup." – "For what?" – "We're going to fight." – "Wait, what? You want me to fight you... with GUNS? Are you insane or just really dumb?" – "You talk too much. Do it." – "Alright, don't get on my ass when you get shot." Noss shrugs and looks at his arsenal in his bag. He takes out an unassuming pistol. He loads it with dummies, non-lethal bullets.

"I'm using fake bullets. I trust you're okay with that?" – "Whatever, doesn't make a difference to me, you're not going to hit me." Noss smiles and bobs his head. "I think I'm beginning to like you, Alex." – "Just shut up." She says, taking something out of a box. Several things actually. She straps them to her legs and arms and takes something very conspicuous out.

It's a katana...?!

"Fire when ready." She lets out simply. Noss shrugs and aims for her leg and fires a bullet! To his absolute astonishment, she slices the bullet in half with inhuman precision.

"What the heck...?!" – "Done already?" – "...!" Noss smiles again, his heart starting to race! "Alright, GIRL, how about this!" He says, unleashing a barrage of bullets! These ones aren't aimed at non-lethal areas either!

She slices several of them in half and spins to avoid the last one, her blade still singing. To Noss's surprise, she goes on the offensive! She only uses the hilt of the blade as to not kill the poor kid, but to her surprise, he bounds backwards and more than ten feet in the air he begins to unleash a storm upon her! She grunts as one of the dummies hits her in the leg! Still in mid-air, Noss reloads his magazine. He lands on both feet and looks her in the eye.

They both smile...

Noss jettisons the magazine and puts one with REAL bullets in and Alex spins the blade, this time not holding back. When she attacks, it's going to be with the SHARP end! "Y-You guys...! What are you doing?" Kally blubbers. Neither of them responds as Noss fires real bullets at her! She slices them up just like the dummies, no difference to her!

Noss also takes out his Uzi and begins to unload hell on her! This takes her by surprise as she rolls out of the way before slicing each of the nearly hundred bullets! She rushes in for a swift attack and Noss dodges at high speeds! She goes down for an attack she knows he can't dodge, but to her surprise he whips out a side weapon!

Her katana begins to grind against some kind of black machete! It was in Noss's boot! They merely smile at each other! He puts his pistol up to her forehead and she does a backflip right before he pulls the trigger! Every attack makes Kally gasp, knowing that each event could lead to instant death for either of them, but she stays silent.

In some weird way, she's actually really excited to be seeing this!

They continue with their attacks before Alex moves in and gets a good slice on Noss's arm that draws blood and sprays it across the floor next to Kally, causing her to yelp! However, seemingly immune to pain, Noss instantly takes his pistol out and shoots Alex right in the foot before bounding backwards!

She takes a knee and looks at her wound. "Never bring a sword to a gunfight!" Noss taunts. Alex growls and shows off what she attached to her arms and legs! Before he has a chance to react, Alex has thrown three needle-like knives at Noss! He dodges two of them, but one imbeds itself in his thigh! He collapses and Kally rises to her feet again, but also collapses from the foot wound.

"Ha..." – "Haha..." They chuckle to each other. They both pass out from the pain and blood loss and Kally's eyes go wide! She runs out of the room! "BARON, BARON! HELP!" Before she has a chance to realize it, Barrett actually descends from an upper platform within the room.

He smiles, looking at the two kids.

"Amazing..."


	7. The Fallen Heroes: Part 1

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 0  
The Fallen Heroes  
Part 1 of 2

* * *

"Another."

The bartender slides another shot down. She told herself that three would be fine. That was ten shots ago. The anxiety isn't going away anymore. She picks it up with a shaky hand... it's spilling everywhere. She sighs and puts it down and covers her face with her hand.

"Look... I know you don't like me talkin' about this kind of stuff, but how did you end up here, Buttercup?" The bartender asks, leisurely cleaning a glass. "Every day with this... can't you just drop it...?" – "I would, and I have in the past... but it seems like yer' poison isn't working anymore. I'm worried about you." She smiles wryly. "Thanks, but I don't need anyone worrying about me." She raises her head and takes a deep breath, briefly regaining composure.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but it'll take a hell of a lot more than this to kill me. I may not be fine, but the shots aren't hurting. But you are right; they aren't working anymore... I don't know what to do..." She shakes her head. "I haven't seen my family for a long time, except for the professor, who's off doing his own self destructive thing. I guess we all have our ways of coping..." The bartender stays quiet, intently listening to the pained Buttercup.

Her face shows hurt, fatigue, anxiety... she looks horrible. A lot of men and women here look exactly the same. This is where people come when they don't know what to do, when the weight of the world comes crashing down at once. Here, no one will judge you. Here, everyone has the same problems.

She doesn't know their names, but she feels a kind of kinship with them.

"Maybe you should visit yer' sister. For old time's sake." – "... Yeah, maybe..." She says, taking the shot and quickly swallowing it, her grip finally stabilizing. "Thanks..." – "No problem, don't come again any time soon." She chuckles a bit, knowing he's only trying to help. "Don't count on it, this place is an oasis." She turns off of the stool and begins to walk out, surprised to see a shade in the corner.

Her brow furrows as the silhouette forms into a familiar looking person. A person who is keeping his hands in his pocket, as to not show them. After all, giant pincers would probably stick out. She scoffs and ignores him, heading out of the bar door. The sun is about to come up. This bar leads straight into an inconspicuous alley. A disgusting one that no one would look into too deeply, but the bar itself is very clean. It was designed this way deliberately. A home away from home that those who have fallen can go to and not be found. Ever.

But Buttercup didn't expect HIM to be looking for her. As she casually walks down the alley, the same shade shows up in a corner.

"What do you want?" She finally asks. "It's time." He says directly. She raises an eyebrow before shaking her head. "Piss off; I don't want anything to do with you or your lies anymore." – "Lies? What Blossom did was of her own accord, I had no way to help you and her at the same time." – "Then why didn't you just help her?!" – "Because then you wouldn't be strong enough to hold Magnificence! We've been through this, girl! You need to stop living in the past!" – "I'm NOT living in the past! But I'm not living in the future either, at least no future involving you. I'm done, FOREVER, Him." She walks away, putting her hands in her coat.

It's been snowing a little bit, and it's very nippy outside. She walks off, but Him once again intercepts her, this time taking one claw out of his red devilish jacket and blocking her path. She looks up with anger twisting her expression.

"This is bigger than just you, you know. I've been getting help from everywhere, not just you." – "Then get more." She says, forcing her way past his arm. "It could mean the difference between whether this world lives or dies, Buttercup!" – "Go back to Hell, Him. I don't give a damn." He shakes his head.

The sun disappears in the morning sky as clouds move in. Snow begins to slowly twinkle down. She walks down the road, among other people. She is living in an apartment now, along with the Professor. Ever since Heroesbane, they have both been hurting bad. The Professor hasn't spoken in weeks. Several minutes go by and she finds herself at a turn. A left would take her to her apartment.

But she... sees someone to the right, on the other side of the road. "Is that... Dexter...? What's he doing?" She wonders to herself. He seems dressed up and ready for something. Does he have a job? What's he doing in Colorado? Wasn't he still living in Megaville? Dexter looks in her general direction and she shoots her head away as to not make eye contact.

She begins to think to herself. Does she want to be found? Does she want to talk to Dexter...? Snow still falls, but she's not cold. She's well dressed for this weather. She sighs and looks back, noticing Dexter is gone. She looks around, noticing he is halfway down the street! If she is going to meet him, she has to go now.

She casually walks across the wet street, the snow refusing to stick to the road here. She speeds up her walk a little bit but then slows down once she reaches Dexter. It feels like there's a frog in her throat, she can't bring herself to say anything.

"Damn it, what am I thinking... I can't do this..." She says to herself, turning around. She begins to walk away before someone locks eyes with her. It seems to be a woman with black hair. Buttercup doesn't recognize her.

"Oh my god, Buttercup? Is that you?" – "Huh...? Who are you?" – "Oh, right... I should probably remember that I don't look the same anymore. It's me, Lynn." – "Lynn...? Oh, it's... good to see you..." She wonders to herself, what the heck is everyone doing here in Colorado all of a sudden? "Oh dang, I forgot! Dexter left his keycard at the house! I was showing up to give this to him! Sorry to bug you, it was really great to see you again, Buttercup!" – "Y-Yeah, good to see you too..." She mutters, Lynn running off behind her.

"House...?" She wonders to herself. "They're living here...? Together?"

* * *

"Rose."

A man lets out. It's Barrett. He's in a house, rarely is he ever outside of his lab anymore. "Oh, what is it, Baron? I just got Izzy to sleep." – "We have a new recruit. Have you gotten a chance to see him, yet?" – "You mean Noss? No, but Alex was telling me all about him. I can't tell if she likes him or not." – "Eh, they'll work it out, hon'. Do you want to meet him? He will be family, after all." – "Sure, let me just make sure Izzy has everything set."

This house is surprisingly tame for such a high profile person as Barrett. It's like he's living two lives. One underground and one above. Rose walks through back into the main room and nods. "I'm ready. How were their wounds, by the way?" – "Alex and Noss? Nothing too severe. I didn't expect them to use real weapons, but it all worked out in the end I guess." – "Still, that Noss kid... playing with guns? Where did he even get them?" – "Why don't we ask him ourselves? Today is the day I chose to have a meeting with all the members." Rose smiles a small bit, but has a hint of sarcasm crossing her face.

"They're just kids; you know... you calling them members and all... it's still a little strange to me." – "You've seen what kids can do, Rose." She blinks once, remembering all that happened during the wars, remembering The Knights...

Remembering that OLGA girl in specific...

"Yes, you're quite right..." She sighs. "I wonder how Ruby is doing...?" Baron puts his large hand on her shoulder. She is surprisingly comforted by this gesture; Baron is a man that exudes genuine kindness. "I'm sure she's fine. We will find her one day. Or who knows? She might find us." Rose happily nods. They head out of the house as someone enters it. A normal person, a babysitter.

Truly a normal family...

Later, they are within the underground base, the three children circled around a table along with Rose and Barrett.

"Welcome, Saints... to the first ever meeting of Crystallus." Noss already raises a hand. "Yes?" – "Yeah, uh... What?" – "Our organization. We are called the Saints of Crystallus." – "Oh. Why didn't you tell me sooner that we had a name?" – "You didn't ask." – "..."

"Now, first order of business... the fight yesterday..." – "We're sorry." Both Alex and Noss say, rolling their eyes. "Not that." He says, disarming them. "I was going to congratulate you both for exceeding my already lofty expectations, but I must insist that in the future, you use non-lethal weaponry when sparring." They both nod.

"Now, for the second order of business, I think it's about time everyone gets acquainted with one another... Let's start with our most senior members. I am Barrett, though you may all call me Baron, or Father Baron if you wish. I was a scientist in head production of top secret weapons and machines within the military. Once one of our most trusted members went AWOL, I left the military and began work on this base. I wasn't the only one either. One of my closest friends, Francis also did the same. Francis was, or is Kally's father. Kally, it's your turn." She nods.

"Thank you. My name, if you didn't already know, is Kally. I initially joined the Saints to find my dad with Father Baron's help after he saved my life one day. Since then, we have both been working hard on Alphametals, a secret weapon developed by the military. A subset of Chronometals which, as I'm sure we all know... had gruesome consequences when in the wrong hands" Everyone nods, everyone sharing equal pain from the wars.

"I was in an orphanage for almost a year before I left it all behind to come with Barrett. Since then I've been like part of his family. I met Alex here, so I guess it's your turn now. Alex?" She nods as well.

"My name is Alex. I see that we're all using our first name, that's fine. I don't have a last name anyway. My old family died and nearly got me killed in the process right as the Chronometal Wars hit. I was drafted into the Orphanage around the same time Kally was. As a matter of fact..." She pauses and begins to think.

"Wait, hold on-" Someone interrupts. Everyone turns to see it was Noss. "You two were also in an orphanage?" – "Also? You mean you were-" – "Yeah, the same one as you guys. The Megaville Orphanage on 51st street. I was only in it for about a day though. Sure, I lost my parents... but I didn't care for the place. I left and took my dad's stuff once the wars ended. That's how I got these guns." He says, putting a Glock on the table.

"My dad was in the marines, he was a real gun nut... and an asshole too. If it wasn't for him, maybe mom would still be alive and we would have left Megaville before the shit really started hitting the fan." – "I also took my father's things after the Wars took my family..." Alex lets out, continuing her life story.

"My family katana, hailing from Japan. I am what people call Japanese American, but don't care for titles. I'm just a stranger now, a girl with no last name. My father's line ran long into the older days of Japan, all of the weapons I use, from the Katana to the throwing knives are all irreplaceable heirlooms. One day in the Orphanage, a kind man found me and took me into his home." She says, looking over to Baron with an uncharacteristic smile across her face.

"The rest is history I guess. I'm glad to be of service, Father Baron." He nods appreciatively. "Noss, you may continue." He says.

"Well, picking up my story... my family was living in Megaville for a long time. Before the first war started, my mom and I wanted to move, the city was getting dangerous. My dad insisted we stay put, but just as a security measure... we had an arsenal built into our basement. Hundreds of thousands of bullets, several dozen different brands of guns, enough to fund a civil war, really. My dad would take me training every other day, he was really serious about staying, and we were really serious about leaving. I guess this was his way of compromising. If he wouldn't let us leave, he would at least teach us how to defend ourselves. I hated the man, but I guess I have to thank him for teaching me all I know now."

He stares off into space for a while before continuing. "I might as well skip to the good part. I had to shoot him in the face to break free of him." Kally gasps. "Wh-What...?" – "Let me finish. The wars finally started, machines were invading the city. My dad was a crack shot, taking down several of them from half a kilometer away. In a way, I guess he was keeping us safe, but it was too much. The city issued a mandatory evacuation of every citizen living inside the city, but my father still insisted that we stay. One day, a robotic beetle looking thing broke into the house and nearly took my head off. If it wasn't for all the training I had done, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to finish it off." He furrows his brow.

"That was the last straw. We had to leave right then and there, but he wasn't having that. Even double teamed by me and my mom he still wouldn't budge. He struck her and forced us to stay. I don't regret the fact that I shot him right in the forehead." Everyone goes silent. "But my story still doesn't end there..."

* * *

"Mom, get back!"

Several flying machines plague the sky! The Chronometal Wars are tearing the city to pieces! Noss takes out his shotgun and blows several of them away with one shot! His small frame is taking huge recoil and he nearly blows his arm out of its socket, but he has to keep going! His mom is hiding behind a wall, afraid for her own life, but also terrified for Noss's!

Before long, he's taken over twenty of these machines out! But they just won't stop coming! At least now, they seem to be distracted by something! They seem to be flying over to a small group of civilians fleeing for their lives! He notices that they are being shot to pieces, but they are still buying him the little time he needs.

It's not time to be a hero. It's time to survive. He ignores the people in distress and turns to his mom now that the machines are occupied!

"Mom! Let's go! We have a sure shot to the outskirts!" He takes her by the hand and runs through the ruined streets! Whenever machines show up, they duck behind cover to avoid their attention. Even only eight years old, Noss seems to be a master at combat tactics, so far it has been saving his life and the life of his mother.

They are about to reach the outskirts! There is a police blockade in sight! Noss can see them and they can see him! They wave and beckon him to come! "WE MADE IT, MOM!" He says excitedly, running home free! The police provide covering fire from flanking robots and finally it seems like it's going to all be okay!

Until...

"WHAT THE...?! AN E-EARTHQUAKE?!" He yells out, the ground shaking violently! Neither he nor his mother can stand and they both fall down, massive tremors blowing them off their feet! Soon a horrendous noise is heard! Noss can see that the police line is sinking! They soon leave vision and he runs over as the tremors stabilize.

But... he realizes that they didn't sink... Megaville is flying into the air?! He looks into the sky to see a giant swirl, what looks like a water torrent sucking them into the clouds!

"What the heck... is h-happening?!" He lets out! Before long, the blockade is completely out of sight and the city is completely in the air! Robots fly in from behind them! "DANG IT! LEAVE US ALONE!" He yells out, shooting most of them in a split second, but when they fire out, one bullet hits his mom in the leg and she screams out, barreling backwards!

"MOM!" He yells as she nears the edge! Another bullet hits her in the arm and she is blown off the edge! "NO!" He roars out in defiance, jumping after her! He jumps right off of the cliff and grabs her by the hand! His other hand grabs a random iron bar sticking out of the ruined edge of the now floating Megaville and holds on for dear life!

But it's not enough... it's REALLY not enough! His small eight year old body is not strong enough to support a grown woman and himself as they dangle off of this cliff! "M-Mom! Don't... let... go!" She looks down, seeing nothing past the clouds, but then looks up once Noss grunts in pain! One of his fingers slipping its grip! They are both going to fall at this rate...!

"GAAAAHHHHH!" He cries out in pain! He's going to slip! This is it...! It's all over! That is until...

"L-Let go, Noss! Let me fall!" – "NO! DANG IT I'M NOT LOSING YOU!" – "Well I'm not going to lose you! Goodbye, Noss!" She rips herself free of his grip! "MOTHER! NOOOOOO!" She falls and passes the clouds. But he can still hear her say one thing.

"I love you...!" Tears grow in his eyes and he painfully climbs his way back up the edge of Megaville. It's... all over...

Or is it...?!

As soon as he rises up, a giant machine is there to wait for him! Another giant Beetle! "YOU BASTARDS! YOU TOOK MY FAMILY FROM ME, BUT THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, WAS IT?!" He roars, taking his Uzi out! "NOW YOU WANT MY LIFE?!" The beetle hisses, going on the offensive! "WELL COME FUCKING GET IT!"


	8. The Fallen Heroes: Part 2

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 0  
The Fallen Heroes  
Part 2 of 2

* * *

She stares off into the snowy distance.

"Him... Dexter... Lynn..." Buttercup says to herself. "It's been months... why are they only just now showing up? I mean Dexter and Lynn, sure... they could have been living here and I just missed them... but Him too..." She shakes her head. She's on her apartment balcony. Two rooms, very modest accommodations. The Professor has been holed up in his side of the apartment for weeks now. He constantly makes noise, so Buttercup knows that he's still okay, for now...

He seems to be valuing his privacy right now. He has only ever come out to eat, and Buttercup is more than happy to cook for him. Sometimes he smiles, but he never talks anymore. Buttercup has her booze, but the Professor seems to be taking everything head on. It seems to be wearing him down...

"Everything I was doing was for Blossom... and I couldn't help her. She sacrificed herself to line up the perfect shot, blowing Magnificence out of the sky before he got too close to Earth. The only thing keeping me sane is the knowledge that she was probably right. If something drastic wasn't done, Magnificence probably would have destroyed the entire world. After all, it had the strength to kill and absorb all of the South Pole Model Ms.

The bartender tells her to move on, Him tells her to move on, before she disconnected herself from her, even Bubbles said to move on.

Bubbles...

"Bubbles..." Buttercup's head slumps. She grips the bars on her balcony edge tightly. She looks into the snowy sky once more. "Brick... even he's moved on. He's moved on and all of his brothers are dead. He's even a hero now..." She mopes and shakes her head.

"What the hell am I doing...? I'm so damned pathetic... even Brick is stronger than me, even Bubbles... hell, 'especially' Bubbles. What role do I have in their lives now? The Wars are over and Blossom is dead. I'm a fighter who couldn't protect what was important to her. I have nothing left to fight for..." She turns back into the house.

"Nothing left to live for... I ran away from Megaville to try to get away from my old life. I knew that there wouldn't be any running away from Him, but Dexter and Lynn here in Colorado? Maybe it was just a coincidence. Then again, maybe not." She opens the front door and leaves her apartment. She needs to go for a walk.

She finds herself in a park, sitting on a bench. The snow has more or less stopped. Kids are playing here, thick furred dogs fully adapted to this kind of weather play fetch with owners that wear warm coats. "Hard to believe that less than a year ago, everyone on Earth feared for their lives. Everything seems so... chill now." She wonders to herself, maybe this is how it is after every major world crisis?

Model M was finally stopped officially nine months ago. It's going to be Halloween soon. People all over America are unsure of any kind of mass celebration yet. They are all still gun shy over the fact that The Prologue, the Chronometal War, the Second Chronometal War, and The Panic all happened within such small time frames from each other. These nine months have given the world a collective sigh of relief, a hope that the world can finally get back to normal.

But no one wants to remember the details. The truth is the world has less than five billion people in it left. The Panic took what was once an impossible number of human lives and made it into another statistic. Two Billion. That was the rough estimate. The entire Southern Hemisphere will never be the same again. Australia, South America, Indonesia, and some of India and Africa were completely decimated; all human settlements and cities razed to the ground by Model Ms. Only forests and jungles remain.

Nine months later, there is no significant change. It could take hundreds of years for things to go back to normal. By then everyone who ever experienced the wars would be dead, only stories passed down, or maybe buried by time... intentionally forgotten.

"I know what you're thinking..." A familiar voice lets out from behind Buttercup as she sits on the bench. She looks behind her. "Lynn? How the... what the... what are you doing here?" – "After I saw you earlier, I went looking for you." – "You... you did? Why?" – "Well, after catching up with Bubbles, I thought that catching up with you would be fun too." – "Fun...?!" Buttercup laughs. Lynn has already sat down on the bench with her.

"So you say you know what I'm thinking? What am I thinking?" Lynn looks out to the people playing in the park, the kids, the animals, the parents...

"You're thinking about how it's possible for them to continue on like normal after what happened." – "...! How did you...?" – "I've done the exact same thing you are doing before. I've though the same question and came up with my own answers. I trust you did the same?" – "Well, I would imagine they are just trying to forget about it." – "Really? Look harder." – "Huh?" Buttercup looks back at the people playing in the park.

Buttercup doesn't get it. "What am I looking for?" – "You're thinking too hard. You're thinking why they are here and how they can go on, but you're not actually looking at them, what they're doing, what they're feeling." – "What they're feeling?" – "Look at their faces." Lynn points to the people playing fetch with their dogs, the people playing with their kids and friends.

They are all smiling and laughing, genuinely. "Does that look like the pained expressions of people trying to forget atrocities?" – "No, no it doesn't..." – "I'm sure some of them, maybe most or even all of them have lost something in these wars, but a lot of people have taken up harmless play and social interaction. Maybe they are doing more than simply trying to forget. Maybe now they are trying to make new memories, now that these wars shocked them back into reality. Maybe they realized life is fragile and short, and they have to live hard today. There may very well be no tomorrow." – "That's... kind of dark..." Lynn says nothing.

"I'm sorry. Maybe that came out wrong." – "No, I understand completely. You may even be right." – "So what about you...?" – "... Man... I don't know..." She diverts her eyes and crosses her arms. "I... feel like I've lost all drive. After... Blossom died... I've lost all reason to do anything. I've been spending more time at bars than I have at my own apartment." – "You have an apartment?" – "Huh? Yeah... I live with the professor." – "So THAT'S where he's been! Dexter has been worried sick!" – "Huh?"

"Dexter has a job working at a government backed research center. He constantly brings the Professor up, saying that he could really use his help." – "Is that right..." She mumbles. "He's been... kind of reclusive lately... he's stopped talking even to me." – "Maybe Dexter can break through to him?" Buttercup shrugs. "Maybe. You know... here's my address." Buttercup scribbles something down on a piece of paper. "Wait, you mean it?" – "Yeah, I've been gone for long enough. I think it's time that I see what the old gang's up to." Lynn smiles and nods. "I would like that. I have to get home, Ruby should be back soon."

They nod and part ways. Buttercup walks off with a small smile on her face. That is until halfway to her apartment, HE shows up again.

"Is my Buttercup finally coming out of her shell?" – "Leave me alone." – "Oh come on, is that-" – "PLEASE! Him, just... leave me alone... please..." – "..."

"Girl. You are going to wake up one day and realize that you wasted so much time. You are going to wish you gave me the time of day. You are going to wish you listened to me. But okay. I will... 'Leave you alone.' Have a nice reunion." Him vanishes into a red mist.

* * *

"Rose, it's your turn."

She nods. The life stories have circulated, and now it is her time to explain what she's doing here with the Saints of Crystallus.

"My name is Rose..." She says with a gentle voice. Her hair is red and she's a woman that exudes a lifetime of experience with both happiness and sadness. A woman that knows more than she lets on.

"And I am here because this man saved my life. Baron Electus. During the wars, my daughter was taken from me. A woman had helped me before, a young woman by the name of Lynn. I briefly had my daughter back, but she went missing right before the first major war hit its apex. Before all of this... my husband was also lost to The Knights..." Baron nods, remembering his old colleague, Micheal.

"Micheal and indeed all of The Knights have taken a great deal from all of us..." He says in comfort. "But... he is dead, and life goes on. Now here we are." – "Yes... you are right. But I am not so sure about all of them are dead..." – "Oh? What do you mean?" – "I recall people talking about seeing Olga alive, even during the Second War... something involving that horrible monstrosity, World's End." – "Hmm... I will have to investigate that further. But until then, please continue." Rose nods and turns back to the kids at the table.

"Anyway, I went looking for my daughter but was then kidnapped by a giant robotic worm. I was thrown into a vast underground base like many others before me. That... Olga girl, she convinced me to give up my own life, she threatened me with the life of my daughter. I had no choice but to accept." – "Accept...?" Kally asks. Rose nods. "Yes, to give up my own life in exchange for my daughter's safety, but as you can plainly see... it did not go that way..."

* * *

"Malevolence..."

Olga hisses. She is wearing her trademark Bio-Simbiote P, Phantom. Her face is guarded by a thick visor; no part of her body is visible under the thick yet maneuverable armor. Rose and numerous other individuals are standing in the center of a base, a deep heart-beat like sound emanating from it.

"At last, Susan will return to life, and this fucking world will burn." She spits as she pushes Rose forward. Rose is wearing no armor and has no weapons; she is completely helpless, as are many other individuals here. "What... what do you want me to do?" – "Kneel, and give yourself willingly to Malevolence." – "W-Willingly?" – "Malevolence is an altruistic being; it does not steal energy from people. Instead, all of its divine power has been given to it willingly by people." – "Willingly...? How? Why would people kill themselves for this monstrosity?!" – "Watch your tongue, bitch. The only reason you are still alive is because I still need you to kill yourself. Your life has very little value to me."

Rose looks away to the other people aside from her. Some of them are smiling, their eyes twinkling. "You see... not all of these people are being forced, like you. Many see Model M as a new hope, a way to free them, to transform their menial lives into something with greater purpose. Model M will bring the light of the divine into this world." Rose thinks to herself...

This is for Ruby... this is all for Ruby. She closes her eyes and puts her palms together as if in prayer. Olga smiles, though it is unable to be seen through her visor.

"And this time, it won't be destroyed by those three idiots." Rose fires open her eyes and looks back. "Three...?" – "Hmm? You know them?" – "My... My husband was a member of a Group of three." – "Was he military?" Olga asks, Rose's eyes going wide once more. "I'll take that as a yes..." – "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THEM?!" Rose rises from the ground and nears Olga. She strikes Olga, but only succeeds in hurting her own hand. Her attack did nothing. Olga simply stands there.

"They destroyed Malevolence... They destroyed Malignancy... They even destroyed Magnificence. Micheal told me to flee, but instead I tapped into a power deep within myself and lashed out against them. They attacked us for days, killed numerous members of Micheal's flock... but now they are no more. I sent them into a dark space where no life could possibly return." – "You... you monster!" Olga glares at Rose, who flinches even though she can't see Olga's eyes.

"Look around you. Not everyone here is as direct as we are. Some are here of their own will, hopeless, sickly, god fearing people, and your HUSBAND shot them dead without a second thought." – "That's impossible! I don't believe you!" – "So you do not care about your daughter, I understand. You are no longer needed alive." Olga picks Rose up by the collar! "Hey! Let me go!" Olga says nothing, the squirming woman being placed above the engine below!

"Enjoy the fall, scum. Say hi to your husband for me." Olga throws Rose into the engine! It's a long fall until the rainbow colored core below! About half a minute. There is no way she can stop! She can feel the heat rising as her entire vision is entombed in plasma! She is about to hit the core!

"OOF!" A man lets out, snatching her out of midair! Before she knows it, she's rolling on the floor, scrambling from the power of the impact! It's so hot down here, but she's not dead... She opens her eyes, slowly blinking and looking at the person who just saved her life before she hit the core.

It appears to be a man in a strange suit of armor. "Who...?" She mutters before passing out.

* * *

"Hello?"

Dexter asks, entering the house he recently got an address to. Buttercup is supposed to be here, but looks like she's out for now. The modestly furnished living area leaves something to be desired, but Dexter kind of expected a 'less is more' kind of atmosphere based on how hard Buttercup has been taking Blossom's death.

But there's something here. A kind of aura of dread, like terrible news is just around the corner.

"Hello? Buttercup? Professor...?" Dexter asks around the house, letting himself in and looking around. There are some paintings on the wall, some family photos on the coffee table and end tables. They all have Blossom in them. Some of them don't even have Buttercup or the Professor. "..."

Dexter looks around once more, noticing a small pinkish mist wafting off the floor. "What the...?" He kneels down and bats away the mist. "This is a chemical mist... Professor...?" He says to himself, tracing the mist to a door at the edge of the room. He knocks.

"Professor?" He gets no answer. He twists the door knob to notice it's locked. "Professor! Are you in there?" He asks, knocking on the door once more. Except this time a white light explodes from under the door and makes the house shudder! "Professor!" Dexter yells, forcing his way through the door, bashing the door open!

"...! PROFESSOR!" Dexter yelps, noticing he is unconscious on the floor as a cauldron explodes with energy! An unstable concoction within boiling over, it won't last much longer! Without another word, Dexter leaps to the Professor's side and picks him up! He rushes out of the room as an explosion of pink light engulfs the house!

The wall explodes out, blowing the living chairs and the portraits in random directions! If Dexter didn't arrive here when he did... Professor Utonium would have been killed! But for now, things seem stable. Smoke rises from the ashes of the collapsed wall and Dexter shakes the Professor. "Wake up! WAKE UP!" Dexter jostles his body, getting no response.

He hears a noise as the door opens. It's Buttercup! "Dexter...? ...! Professor!" She yells out also jumping to his side. "What happened?!" – "I don't know! He was working on something in his room and I found him like this! Your apartment got blown to bits!" – "To hell with this place, is he okay?!" – "He's still breathing, but he won't wake up!" – "There's a physician a couple houses down, come on!" – "A physician?! He needs a full on doctor!" – "LATER! He needs help now!"

_*Several minutes later, Dexter and Buttercup frantically running down the street with an unconscious man in their grasp.*_

"Is there a doctor in the house?!" Buttercup yells out, several people looking at them as they barge through the office door. To their absolute surprise, a familiar face is present.

"M-Mekel?!" – "Dexter? There's no time! Let me see him!" – "Okay..." They quickly move him to a room and place him on a medical bed. Mekel's fingers grow blue as he touches the Professor's arms. "How is he?" – "He... could be worse, but this is a very strange condition he has now." – "Strange? Strange how?" Mekel looks over to Buttercup.

"He has Chemical X poisoning." – "Wh-What...?" – "It seems he's been in contact with a large amount of Chemical X recently. Chemical X can act like radiation if not taken in small doses and give your body time to rest. But it seems like you guys got him in the nick of time." – "You got that right..." Dexter exclaims.

"But he should be fine; I'll go get my... wait..." Mekel pauses, Utonium shaking his head. "Bloss... om..." He whimpers. "Blossom...?" Dexter says before his eyes go wide. "Wait, pink mist...? Chemical X? Blossom?! Professor! YOU WEREN'T... WERE YOU?!" – "F... Forgive... me..." He falls back into unconsciousness.

Dexter diverts his eyes and shakes his fist. "Damn it Professor... bringing back the dead is what started these wars in the first place...!" – "I'm sorry, but you two need to leave! His condition is worsening! I need to perform the detox! Go to the waiting room!"

**_Since that day... Buttercup and the Professor, and even Mekel have maintained a loose connection with the retired heroes Dexter and Lynn. Days go by with a few words, but once Halloween creeps by, they put this whole mess behind them, even if only for a day. Dexter wishes that everything could go back to normal, and on these holidays it looks like it just may be possible... but little do they know that lurking behind the clouds and underneath their very noses, enemies plot and grow. Maybe normality is an impossibility. Maybe catastrophe is the only certainty._**


	9. The New Dawn

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
New Year's Eve (1)  
The New Dawn

* * *

Professor Utonium looks out the window.

Minutes to midnight, not long now and this entire year is over. The holiday season is ending. He and Buttercup had reconnected to Dexter and the others. Unfortunately, he was unable to properly connect to Bubbles again. During the several months Buttercup and the Professor have been back on the scene, Bubbles has always been off doing her own thing.

He continues to look out the window, focusing on nothing in particular. He remembers the speech he got from Dexter, from deep within himself. Spoken with nothing but truth and personal experience... it made Utonium feel so foolish.

* * *

Several Months Ago

* * *

"Mekel? Is he okay?" Buttercup begs for an answer. "Yes, he's going to be fine. He should be perfectly healthy in a few hours." – "Oh... thank God..." Buttercup lets out a huge sigh of relief and looks back at Dexter.

"Dexter... I... I don't know how to thank you. If I didn't meet Lynn on the streets I- the Professor... I mean..." – "It's okay. I'm just glad I showed up when I did." – "Y-Yeah..." – "..." Buttercup notices there is something on Dexter's mind. "Dexter? What's wrong?" – "Did... Utonium ever tell you what he was doing in his room all this time?" – "Huh? No, never. I asked a couple of times, but he always dodged the question." – "That's what I thought..." – "Whatever it was, it exploded out and nearly killed him, I mean working with Chemical X like that again? What has gotten into him?"

"..." – "Dexter! What's wrong?! Is there something you're not telling me?!" – "I... know what he was doing." – "Huh? You... you do? What was it?" – "He was... I mean h-he... gah..." Dexter sputters, avoiding the answer. "It... would be better if he told you himself; I don't want to hang him out to dry just yet." – "..." Buttercup stays silent.

"Mekel." Dexter asks. "Hmm?" – "Can we see the Professor now?" – "He's been detoxed, but he's still pretty worn out. Though... he seemed in pretty okay health when you brought him in, I've seen worse cases. If there's something you simply 'must' ask him, then yes, he's okay for it. Though I recommend only one of you go in at a time, we don't want to overwhelm him." Dexter and Buttercup look at each other.

"I know he's your dad... but there's something I just HAVE to ask him... please, Buttercup..." – "Go." – "Huh?" – "That look in your eye, I've seen it before. Something is wrong, and you think talking to the Professor can help. I can wait." She says, turning around and looking out the glass doors. "Thank you..." – "..."

Dexter enters the room and Mekel and Buttercup are left to themselves. "So... Mekel. What brings you to Colorado?" – "Business."

* * *

Dexter enters the room. The Professor is very lightly asleep, his breath still heavy. Dexter's footsteps wake him up. "D-Dexter...?" – "Hey, Utonium. Are you okay to talk?" – "... What do you want to talk about?" He asks, straitening up. Dexter grabs a chair and sits on it. He looks Utonium straight in the eye.

He knows what Dexter is going to ask.

"Tell me I'm wrong. Please tell me I'm wrong, Professor." – "Wrong...? About-" – "Don't dodge the question, we've known each other too long to hide things from each other. You were trying to bring Blossom back to life, weren't you?!" – "Dexter, I-" – "WEREN'T YOU?!" – "..." He turns his head. An adult, taking a scolding from what is at the time, a very young man.

"Utonium... it's not like I don't understand where you're coming from. I would be a hypocrite to demonize you over this. I've made this mistake too, and the ramifications were dire. I tried to bring my sister back, and the husk I was working with ended up being used in the Chronometal Wars." – "It's... not the same..." – "HOW ISN'T IT THE SAME?! Professor! You cannot play God like this! Do you remember what happened when people tried to bring MANDARK back to life?! Have you COMPLETELY forgotten the entirety of the Chronometal Wars?!" – "Model M... was a machine..." – "What?" – "Deedee android... was also a machine..." – "Professor, what are you talking about?"

He turns back. "Everything nice. Chemical X. That's all she is. She was born perfect, just like the others... no room for error..." – "..." – "No faulty wiring, no short circuiting... no machinery... just, Chemical X... It seemed so simple at first. Just... just recreate her, after all I did it once before in a single night. B-But, it wasn't working. A single day turned into a week of failures. A month... soon half the year passed and I had nothing to show for it." He looks at the medical beds and charts in this room.

"I was surrounded by small and large doses of Chemical X. I must have gotten lucky before, because nothing was working like it should have." – "Professor... even if you DID succeed, that person would NOT be Blossom! It would be a new person! A daughter you would look in the eye, and she would see only sadness!" – "Wh-What...?" – "If you attempted to make another Blossom, only to end up with this new girl... when she would look up to you, she would see her own reflection in your eyes. She would see that you see her as something else than she sees herself. Would you really want that...?" – "I don't know what I want anymore..."

"DAMMIT PROFESSOR!" Dexter slams his fist on a surgical table, knocking some of the tools off and startling Utonium! "WE ALL HAVE TO COME TO TERMS WITH WHAT HAPPENED! YOU AND BUTTERCUP NEED TO STOP LIVING IN THE FUCKING PAST! Bubbles has already moved on. She has a new life; she's still being who she always was." Utonium only shakes his head. "I... don't think I can..." – "Professor... do you want me to tell you something I haven't told anyone else yet...?" – "...?"

"Bubbles is pregnant."

* * *

"Bubbles... my little girl..." Utonium smiles, looking out the window as fireworks go off. A single tear falls off of his cheek. He looks back to the dark couch in the living room they are living in for now. Buttercup is passed out, enough holiday cheer to drown an Irish man.

"I... can't keep doing this to Buttercup. I can't keep doing this to everyone. Something has to be done." He looks at the clock.

12:01

"Happy new year..." He says to himself, leaving the house. Soon after, he looks into the sky. Stars are twinkling, and even though there was a predicted 90% chance of snow tonight, there isn't a single cloud in the sky. He looks back down to see kids and teenagers sliding around on a nearby frozen lake, even though it is the dead of night. "I guess... everyone else is moving on too."

Utonium takes a deep winter breath and closes his eyes. He sits down on the stairs to his temporary house and smiles to himself. "Maybe I can move on, for them. It's not fair for them to have to worry about their own father. It's my job to worry about them. They may be super heroes, but they're still..." He mutters to himself. "...Human..."

As he thinks to himself, a woman comes walking by. Utonium raises his head to look at her. She is rather tall and has bright red hair. She's lower middle aged, but a look in her eyes tells Utonium that she has also been through what he has.

Without any formal greeting, Utonium lets out: "Happy new year." – "Happy new year..." She says. They just look at each other for a short while. "I know that look..." She says solemnly. "These... wars have taken a lot from all of us." He responds, her nodding in agreement. "But... I guess we have to move on at some point..." – "Who did you lose...?" She asks. He looks up with a pained expression. Normally he would expect someone who asked that to suffer from shock, knowing that it was probably a very close family member... but instead her eyes show a kind of relation.

"My... daughter..." – "I've lost my daughter too... but... I can't let that drag me down. I have others to look after. Other children who need me to be their pillar." – "Yeah..." – "I hope I can meet my daughter again soon..." – "Hmm...?" Utonium mutters. "I'm... sorry. It's just, when Megaville fell, I lost all contact with my daughter. Most of the children were swept into orphanages... but when I checked the only one remaining, she wasn't there. I'm still holding onto the chance that she's still alive." – "Maybe I can help keep an eye out... what does she look like?" She blinks and nods.

"She has very full eyes, filled with innocence and intelligence. Her hair is red like mine. If you find someone like that, please ask their name... if it's... if it's Ruby... please tell me..."

"R-Ruby...?"

* * *

"What is this about?"

Noss, Kally, and Alex all follow Barrett deep into the labyrinth below once more. They haven't been down here for a while.

"It's time y'all got acquainted with your new equipment. Kally already has hers, but I've just finished prepping yours and Alex's. "Equipment? Like what, a Weapon?" – "Kind of..." – "Armor?" – "Kind of." Noss raises an eyebrow.

Soon, they enter a room with two pods. Alex and Noss have never been in here before, but Kally has. In fact, Kally breaks from the group and enters a different room. "Hey, Baron... where's Kally going?" Noss asks. "She's preparing." – "Preparing for what?" – "Preparing to train with you two." Alex and Noss raise an eyebrow.

One of the two pods open up to show what looks like a kind of synthetic battle-suit. A barcode is present on its shoulder, and it is colored a plain white. A kind of technological energy wafts off out of the pod.

"What... is that...?" – "That, young Noss, is an Alphametal." – "Alphametal...? Wait- that's not like a Chronometal, is it?!" – "In many ways, yes... it is." – "WELL FUCK THAT!" Noss spits, turning around and walking away. Alex turns around. "Noss...?" – "No, fuck this noise! My entire family was wiped out by Chronometals, and now you expect me to stand here and use them?!" – "They are not Chronometals, calm down." Barrett says.

"Don't you tell me to calm down old man. I don't CARE what you call it, that thing will bring nothing but trouble!" – "Alphametals are not like Micheal's Chronometals! They have no risk of backfiring; they do not utilize true souls." – "Now what are you talking about? If it doesn't utilize soul energy, what does it utilize?" – "Artificial soul energy. Alphametals emulate a soul and draw upon it for limitless energy. This is what the Government was researching; a kind of energy source, but Micheal turned it into a weapon. Model M is gone, but utilizing his research notes, I was able to synthesize much safer alternatives, with roughly the same results energy-wise."

Noss furrows his brow, but complies. "You know what...? Barthandelus brought me here. Maybe I can hear you out, but at the first sign of trouble, I'm out of here. I'm not too keen on the prospect of starting another Chronometal War." – "That sound very reasonable, Noss." Barrett says, nodding to himself.

"So... what... do I just put it on?" – "It automatically fits to any body design." – "So... I can just-" – "I would recommend you not wearing clothes under it however." – "Ah, good call." Noss says, taking it out of the pod and looking around for a room nearby. Alex does the same once her pod opens.

"Meet in the training compound in five minutes." Baron says on his way out. "The training compound...?"

* * *

A city without a soul...

"What...?" She says to herself, her breath laden with dust and death. She opens her eyes as wide as she can, but she can barely make out a single detail.

A city beneath the earth...

"Did this really have to happen...? It's so extreme... Blossom... Bubbles..." She stands on top of a soot caked building, deep underground.

A city without hope...

"All to save the world... all to stop... Beelzebub." Her balled fists tremble. Her newly scarlet skin barely lusters within this lightless environment.

A city, preserved in time...

"Who would have known they were right? Crystallus... Baron... Him... Barthandelus. Why did I resist? I know it doesn't make a difference, but I never even got to say goodbye." She stares off into the underground horizon. Small cracks in the stone roofing above filter miniscule amounts of light, showing calcified buildings.

"But at least... it's all over, for now. In a thousand years, this will have to be done again... and again... and again..." She looks below her, a hole that leads straight down into the hellish domain of Him.

Megaville... forgotten...

"Blossom... b-be strong..." She says with a quaking voice.

Buttercups eyes shoot open, she finds herself on her couch. She doesn't move. Her body is still petrified. The TV is on, celebrating a new year, but she doesn't care.

"What the hell was that nightmare...?" She says to herself, it was so vivid. "Him...? I... I need to find Him."


	10. The Chosen Heroes

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
The Chosen Fighters

* * *

Once again in the underground base~

"Man, this Alphametal thing kind of rides." Noss lets out, picking at his suit of slender armor. It binds to his skin; much like Chronometals do, but it's much lighter and less cumbersome. Plates of armor for defense are present in key areas, but most of the white armor is lighter than one would expect from a battle suit. Noss was expecting it to be much heavier, but at least it allows him to maintain free movement.

"It... certainly is an interesting experience." Alex says with a neutral expression, though she herself makes passing glances at some of the more revealing areas. Both of their armors are the same coloration, a broad overarching white. They both wait within the training hall. Baron mentioned that Kally will be here soon. Alex looks up to him in the ramparts around this underground arena.

"So... is she coming?" – "Patience. She will be here shortly." Alex rolls her eyes and looks around. "Can we train without her for a while?" – "You can if you wish, but to fully utilize your new Alphametals, I want Kally to train both of you." Noss raises and eyebrow and he too turns back to Barrett. "Wait, what do you mean? You think she can beat us?" – "I know she can." Noss scowls a small bit. Normally he would be thrilled with the prospect of a good challenge, but he doesn't really expect anything out of the timid Kally.

"Uh huh." He says, turning back to the field and cracking his neck.

"Sorry I'm late." A familiar voice lets out. Kally walking into the training complex. She is also wearing an Alphametal, but it somehow seems a little different than theirs. It seems to exude a kind of... energy. While their armors do make them feel a little stronger, they can tell Kally's is much different.

"Are you guys ready?" – "So... are we going to fight?" – "That's the plan. No weapons, for now just your own two hands." – "Alright... which of us takes you on first?" – "Both." Noss and Alex look at each other. Normally they would laugh at the prospect, but since both Baron and now Kally seem confident in this... maybe they know something they don't. They silently agree to each other to not hold back.

"Fine." They say, turning back to Kally.

"Then let it begin."

Kally runs off for them, her sleek lightweight armor making no noise as she does so. They split up as she nears them, but she takes off for Noss and before he can even raise his arms, she has a grip on his leg and tosses him at Alex as if he were nothing more than a rag doll! "WHOA!" He yells as he is barely caught by Alex. "She's fast..." She mutters.

Barrett Electus merely looks on from above.

Regaining his footing, he takes off for Kally alongside Alex! She dashes and dodges their hand to hand attacks with ease before they back her to a wall. But when they think they finally have an opening to take her on she runs up the wall and cascades backwards! They don't even have time to react as she lands behind them and trips them both to the ground!

"B-Baron! This isn't fair! She knows something about this armor we don't!" – "That's right. This is only the first part of your training. The Alphametal will grow alongside you. As you suffer, it suffers. You must form a true spiritual bond with your armor to reach its maximum potential." – "What does that even mean- oh screw it, let's keep fighting!" Noss spits. Kally actually stands her ground this time and allows them to get close.

They try to punch and kick, but she nimbly dodges every single one with superhuman speed. She begins to parry their attacks, one such parry deflecting Alex's leg with such speed that she starts spinning in place and she falls down dizzy. Kally blocks every single one of Noss's punches and kicks before simply pushing him back, infuriating him and she grins a small bit.

"Okay, this isn't fair." Kally nods. "Once you feel the need to grow stronger, you will." – "Don't talk down to me, Girl. It's just your armor that's giving you these powers!" Before she can respond, Baron interjects.

"Do you think that the heroes and villains above will care about whether or not your natural skill comes from a suit of armor? If you encountered an enemy stronger than Kally who didn't hold back, you may already be dead. Keep fighting." – "Grr..." Noss growls. "But this is stupid, we can't do anything- she's strong enough to PLAY with us!" – "Indeed. Did you remember what I said before? Once your life is in true danger, your real powers welling up within you will pour out." – "True danger? What do you mean?" He asks as Kally takes something out of her pocket.

Before their eyes, it explodes into a slender energy blade with a defensive hilt! With one hand she points the energy bladed tip at Noss.

"Use whatever weapons you think necessary." She says, backing away slightly. "That... thing looks really strong; I don't think I have anything to beat that." – "Me neither..." Alex lets out.

Barrett laughs from above. "I think it's time to show you my next batch of gifts." He says as a lift descends from the other side of the room carrying three objects. "The yellow hilts are yours, Noss. The red; Alex's." They quickly scramble for the objects as Kally stares them down, twiddling her thin energy weapon. It's slender like a kind of rapier, but is more than capable of competent slashing due to its energy foundation.

Noss's two hilts flash in his hands, forming thick but short energy blades. They look rather like his combat machete! "These are fine and all, but I don't really excel at short range." – "Then now is a great time to cover your weaknesses." – "Damn it Baron you're killing me here!" Noss backs away as Alex picks hers up. It flashes into a long thick blade trembling with energy. It rumbles in her hands as she comes into tune with her new weapon. She takes a deep breath, as it seems to sync up with her.

"Yeah that seems her style." Noss says, slowly backing away. "I'll... leave Kally to you for now, hehe..." He mutters.

Alex steps to Kally who circles around her slowly. Alex's katana-like energy blade rumbles with unstable electrical energy. Her white armor doesn't let off similar energy, unlike Kally's whose seems to be in tune with her. Alex lets out a battle roar, chopping down at Kally who effortlessly bounces the haphazard attack away with the side of her blade with one arm.

Alex put a lot of strength into that attack, but Kally just brushed it away like the wind. She squints and tries again at different angles, all achieving the same results until Kally goes on the offensive! Primarily with stabbing, Alex goes to great lengths to avoid the attacks, her long black hair banking with every sudden movement. One wrong move however costs Alex's weapon to be blasted out of her hand and instead be replaced with searing heat! She grips her wrist out of pain, but Kally doesn't stop!

Alex ducks and dodges the incredibly fast attacks, but her own personal speed isn't enough to combat Kally's imbued agility! Every other attack grazes the surface of her skin-tight armor, but even now Alex isn't sure Kally is holding back!

However to both of their surprises, Noss makes a surprise entrance from behind! "KYAA!" He yells out, dumbly giving himself away, but giving Alex enough time to break free of the endless attacks! She scrambles over to the hilt as Kally turns around and starts slashing at Noss!

To his own personal surprise, he isn't half bad at matching her speed or strength with his short combat knives. Energy or no, they feel just like his weapon. If Barrett made these, they were made very well. Kally's fast attacks are hard to keep up with at first, but she only has one weapon, and Noss is ambidextrous. Not to mention that Alex finally has her weapon back and joins him from the other side!

At first, Noss isn't sure if he should hold back or not, but that's before he notices that Kally smirks. Before he can gauge what that means, she hops slightly in mid-air and kicks him in the chest and turns to Alex! She swings down only to be blocked by Alex's weapon, but the impact is so heavy that papers on the other side of the room are blown off of their desks! The single attack is so powerful that it forces Alex to take a knee!

"Enough." Baron lets out.

Gasping for breath now that Kally finally puts her weapon down, Alex takes this respite to finally put both hands on the floor and breath. Noss is surprised to see Alex so winded from this. She put a lot more into it than he did, that's for sure.

"You all passed spectacularly." – "Passed? She kicked our asses." – "I expected her to do much more than that." – "Huh? What do you mean?" – "Let's just say that it's not because Barthandelus chose you that I value your lives and keep you safe, it's really quite the opposite. It's because he chose you that I let her loose on you with the order to go for the kill should the opportunity present itself." Noss's face loses color.

"Wait... what...?" – "So, as I said; you passed. With flying colors I might add." – "G-Go for the kill? B-Baron we weren't even ready!" – "No one ever is. That's where true strength comes from. Should your life ever have been in real danger, your armor would activate. Though as this was just a small skirmish, I didn't expect a true connection to your equipment. Merely surviving however, earns you an A+. Now, you may rest. We have a lot of work in the near future." – "B-Baron..."

Alex blinks once. "This is serious..."

* * *

"Where are you?!"

She wanders around at the top of this mountain, he usually appears at her every beck and call, but he's simply not coming. "Are you trying to prove a point? That I should have listened to you earlier and now you won't show up?! Come on, I have something really important to ask you!"

She runs around, the dust of this mountain is very familiar. She is back in Megaville next to the tomb of the Chronometal Wars. Although she has spent over a year in Denver, she came here looking for the one person she never thought she would ever have to look for again.

Him.

Usually he would show up, it's not like him to be so indirect. It's not until she stops and looks around that she notices something strange. The grass... is perfectly still. The clouds too. Everything is... frozen...

"Huh...?" She blinks, noticing she feels kind of tired. This kind of feels like a dream. "Damn it, am I asleep? How annoying." She says, noticing several dream-like things around. Before she knows it, this once bone dry area kicks up one hell of a mist. "Yup. Definitely dreaming. Megaville doesn't get rain." She rolls her eyes and pinches herself. "Ouch, damn it!" She shakes her head. She feels like she's asleep, but she can't wake up.

She sighs, but then notices a shade in the mist. "Huh...?" She says to herself, slowly approaching it. It appears to be a girl on her knees at the lip of the mountain overlooking the tomb and the City. As soon as she sees her hair, her eyes light up, but her stomach also sinks. She quickly dodges behind a tree as the girl turns back.

"Huh? W-Who's there" The girl says, rubbing her face with her forearm to forcefully wipe away the proof of her anguish. "I know you're there! Who are you! Show yourself!" The girl cries out.

The girl's voice nearly brings Buttercup to tears.

She can't help but leave the safety of the tree and approach her. The girl covers her mouth and gasps. Long red hair. A matching dress. The eyes that show someone who's seen much pain, but still sticks through it all to a better tomorrow.

"B-Buttercup!" – "Blossom..." Blossom nearly leaps for Buttercup but stops. She looks around and backs away. "This can't be real..." Blossom says. "Yeah... it's just a dream..." Buttercup says sadly, sniffling, frustrated at the gravity of the situation.

Blossom is within arm's reach but she knows she's not real. "I... thought as much... I mean, you're dead..." Blossom says. Buttercup's expression changes slightly. "Well... I know this is a dream and all, but you're the one who died, haha..." She laughs to cover the pain.

"I wish..." Blossom says, grabbing her arm. She turns back to the lip of the mountain as the mist cascades down the cliff. Buttercup stands by her. "What do you mean?" – "When... when you and Bubbles died I... I thought that was it. I even tried to find you in Him's domain..." – "What...?" – "You're a dream, I would expect you to already know this, you're part of my mind aren't you?" – "Aren't you part of mine?" Blossom turns over to Buttercup.

They just stare at each other for a moment.

"I don't care." Buttercup says lashing out and hugging her beloved sister. After a bit of reluctance she finally caves in and returns the gesture with all her strength. Buttercup is a little taller than Blossom. Buttercup still remembers Blossom from when she died. By that time, Buttercup has grown about an inch.

"You're taller than I remember..." – "You're exactly as tall as I remember..."

A tear forms in Buttercup's eye as the mist fades. She opens her eyes to view the mountains as dry as ever, devoid of any mist or memory. She sighs and rubs her eyes as a warm breeze picks up.

"Buttercup?" – "Huh?" Buttercup turns around to see Bubbles. "Oh, hey Bubbles... we haven't seen you in a while." – "I've... been busy..." She says, rubbing her stomach. "Wait... you're not..." Bubbles nods. "Who?" – "Dexter." – "Dexter...? But-" – "I'm a surrogate for him and Lynn. It's almost time, I just wanted to come and get Blossom's blessing, you know?" – "Y-Yeah..."

A small moment of silence passes. "It's been good seeing you again. If you want you can come visit me in Megaville later. I live in that large house next to the public park." – "House? It's more like a mansion! Where did you get dough like that?" – "I tried finding you for a long time. Ever since Heroesbane was ended, all surviving heroes on Earth have received huge reparations. The amount I got to buy that house barely dipped into it. I wanted to tell you, but I could never find you."

"Oh... well, it's okay anyway. Did Dexter tell you that the Professor is doing okay?" – "Yes, he's been filling me in on what's been going on with you guys." – "Oh, that's good..." – "..." – "The Professor really wants to see you again..." – "I can come visit soon. Just, not now. I'm still working on something."

"..." – "Goodbye for now..." Bubbles says, turning into the tomb, cradling her own form.

A few moments later, Buttercup finally feels that familiar red energy. "Him..."

* * *

"Gah... muh..."

"B... B... Boomer..." The world around her is cold and without mass. She can't feel her arms, or her legs... without being able to see them, she isn't even sure she even has them anymore.

"Are... you... safe...?"


	11. Crumbling Nest

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
Crumbling Nest

* * *

The dark is as omnipresent as her pain.

Her memory used to be crystal clear. She used to remember everything vividly. She remembered her creators, her sisters. Now she only remembers that she has forgotten. She's been floating here, day after day; her arms and legs if they even still exist feel like they are on fire. But it's so dark she can't see anything. Her hand in front of her face being invisible would be an understatement, as would the concept of her being able to truly remember if she even has hands.

She's starting to forget more things. More and more. As her pain escalates, her addled mind goes blank. It feels like her brain is being flushed by pure pain. Whenever she shoots her eyes open, it's as if they were never closed to begin with. A black void from where no life or light can exist.

Is this existence? Has it always been this way? She remembers very few things now, but there is one name. One name she keeps repeating over and over so that she never forgets.

Although she has made peace with the fact that she no longer knows what this person looks like, she repeats their name religiously.

"Boomer... B-Boomer... Boomer..."

It's been a year. Although she does not know that. She has not slept a day in this darkness, she has only been floating here in pain ever since an event she cannot even remember. She remembers trying to save someone. This... Boomer person.

"Are you safe Boomer...? Boomer... Boomer..."

* * *

"Boomer..." She's talking in her fevered, pained sleep.

It's been almost an entire year since he faced Bubbles at her house. He hasn't slept since, nor has he felt tired. Or hungry, or anything really. He has sat on this chair more or less this whole time, all year. He only ever moved to talk with his... Reviver.

Cranston Utonium, this... self named Doctor X.

He has talked with him every other week or so. Most about updates on Subject 2's condition. Cranston is a very straight forward man, though lately he has been growing more emotional. Something is happening in this place, Black Eden. Though Boomer does not care, not even in the slightest. If he had his way, these biweekly conversations with the Doctor would never happen. All he wants right now is for Subject 2 to get better.

For Bunny to get better. Cranston appears in the room.

"Subject One." Boomer turns his head, his face and white eyes completely concealed in the black cloak. "How is her condition?" – "Still getting worse..." He mumbles, turning back to Bunny. Cranston sighs, punching more commands into a console. He feels like all he's been able to accomplish over all these months has been keeping her alive. Her condition is ever worsening. Soon, she will most likely die in her sleep...

"Is there anything we can do...?" Boomer asks, catching X off guard completely. Never even one time this past year has Boomer so much as mumbled outside of responding to Cranston's hails. "What...? What we can... do?" – "I don't want her to die. I owe my very survival to her sacrifice within Eden." – "Eden, my program, would have ejected you should something negative happen. Her sacrifice was entirely in vain and it nearly shook her mind to the core..." – "Be that as it may, she intended to save me, so that's how I'm choosing to perceive it. She sacrificed so much, and I feel like I can't do anything for her."

Bunny writhes softly on the metal bed. A twitch, a wince, flinching... her eyes dart in every direction under tightly closed eyes.

"Unfortunately, I do not know... ever since her mind shattered, my Eden Program has been repeating a background loop to keep her brain as stable as it is. Anything less would be complete and total mental breakdown." – "But she looks like she's in so much pain..." – "The loop is in a black loop. Any unnecessary stimulation would tip her over the edge. At this point, it's not even registering her limbs. She is living in a world with no arms, no legs, no sight..." – "..."

"So... there is nothing I can do...?" – "Well... there may be one thing."

* * *

"ARE YOU SURE...?!"

Professor Utonium merely nods. Lynn looks completely stunned, closing the door to her house and stepping down the stairs to meet him eye to eye. "When did you see her?" – "Right on new year's. The fireworks were still going off; it couldn't have been two minutes past midnight. She was just wandering. Our eyes met somehow."

Lynn covers her mouth and begins to pace in circles.

"Rose... is alive...? This... this is good news..." She says, her body language completely betraying her words. "You don't seem to think it's good news, Barasia..." – "W-Well... I mean..." She pauses, taking deep breaths. She closes her eyes and focuses on what's important.

"What's important is what's best for Ruby. But... ... ... ... ..." – "But?" Utonium asks, responding to the abnormally long pause. "Ruby is... is..." She tries to find words, before breaking out into a frustrated laugh. "As fucking selfish as this sounds, she's mine. She's my daughter, I legally adopted her." – "..."

Utonium understands where she's coming from, but even he knows that isn't good enough, and so does Lynn apparently, as she continues to pace.

"I just... Rose... I mean- how did she look when you met her?" – "She looked... fine. She looks very weathered. She has been through a lot; even an egghead like me can see that." – "Damn it, where has SHE BEEN ALL THIS TIME?! If she wanted Ruby back, why didn't she come find her?!" – "Apparently she wasn't sure if she was still alive or not. After the Chronometal Wars hit its apex, she must have survived by being outside of the city for a while. When she came back, Ruby was already adopted by you."

Lynn looks up at the moon, a small twinkle present on its surface, like a mirror reflecting her sorrow. "I'm..." She pauses.

"I'M SO GOD DAMNED STUPID!" She roars, smashing the ground causing the dirt in a three yard radius to explode outward! Even when de-weaponized, her strength is still legendary. "Lynn..." – "AND I'M SELFISH TOO! WHY AM I NOT FEELING GOOD ABOUT THIS?! WHY?! Why?! Why..." She breaks into tears in the small crater she created. A fully grown woman in a ditch, crying while bathed in moonlight.

Utonium doesn't know what to say...

"Why am I not feeling like this is a good thing?" She says in between hiccups. "I worked... so hard to keep her safe... to keep her happy... and now... and... now..." Lynn chokes up and covers her face.

She's done talking.

"I just thought you should know." Utonium says before turning back. He's tired; this night has gone on long enough. He's passed the information he needed to alone.

But what will this all grow into in the future? This IS a good thing... right?

* * *

It's been several days since they last trained.

Noss and Alex haven't so much as gone outside since they were thoroughly beaten by Kally. The fact that they could have died took a long time to sink in. Noss is taking it surprisingly well, while Alex seems to be the one taking offense to it.

"I can't believe that she probably would have killed me if she had the chance..." – "I know, but I understand why..." – "Really Noss? We're freaking kids! I don't give a damn if we're chosen or not! This world, the people within it, whatever coming darkness Barthandelus told us about- none, NONE of it is our responsibility." She says with a great deal of passion, but still feeling deflated overall.

"But what Baron told us up there... maybe we were never in any real danger..." – "Huh?" – "Think about it. If Kally really went for the kill, our fear of death would kick in and our armor would improve, wouldn't it?" – "Who knows... I doubt there's any way to test it without putting ourselves in harm's way again..."

A faint rumbling is felt, but they ignore it for now.

"Noss. We're. Just. Kids. I can't get over that fact. Why couldn't adults be chosen, huh? Why us? Why... why Baron's kid?" – "Baron's kid? What?" – "Oh... you don't know? Noss adopted a baby from the same orphanage we all hailed from at one point. His name is Izzy. Apparently he's chosen too." – "A fucking baby? No way..."

The rumbling continues, showing no sign of slowing down, but they still ignore it.

"But why? Why does it have to be this way?" – "I know I'm skilled with a katana, my parents taught me a long time ago. Less for self defense, and more for the cultural aspect..." She says, raising her family blade to her eyes. "But now not even this has any worth to me anymore." She says, throwing it across the room, sliding on the floor until it falls into a gutter. "A-Alex...?! What was that for?" – "I have a better weapon-" She says, her electroblade exploding out of its hilt glowing a brilliant red.

"But... but your parents... you heritage-" – "I don't care. I'm not what my ancestors make of me. I am what I make of me. My parents held me back all my life all the way until they died." – "Alex..." – "I only kept it because I was good with it. Now I have something much better. I no longer need it."

The rumbling cracks the ground and they both look at each other.

"SAINTS OF CRYSTALLUS; TO THE BATTLE ROOM, NOW!" Barrett Electus yells through the intercom!

Without missing a beat, Noss and Alex grab their new equipment and begin to dash down the halls! Along the way, Kally and Rose meet up with them and they move as one to the battle room! Once they reach there they gasp!

The entire room is in shambles, a giant crystalline snake attempting to crush Baron! Without any words they all move to help him! He is also in an Alphametal, one exuding a kind of silver energy! His weapon is a kind of huge lance with sharp prongs right before the shaft turns into the blade; it too is encased in pure energy just like their new weapons!

The snake opens its wide maw and attempts to engulf Barrett whole, but he extends his lance vertically and jams its mouth open! "NOSS, CATCH!" Baron yells, throwing a hilt at Noss who nimbly catches it, right before being smacked away by its tail! Noss slides into the wall and nearly loses consciousness, but he still has enough composure to stand up. Although his vision is now blurry.

Kally roars as she impales the snake with rapid strikes, blowing chunks of crystal across the room and causing the snake to hiss in pain, even though its mouth is still pried open with the solid silver energy lance! Baron's bald head sweats as the snake finds a way to spit the lance out, narrowly missing his body!

Its eyes turn to Alex and it seems to lick its chops in hunger! It bears down on Alex who flinches, only to have Rose knock her out of the way and take the snake on alone! Rose shows a weapon no one other than Baron has ever seen- an electric whip! It encases the Snake's mouth before it reels backwards, causing Rose to fly into the air! But her whip is still tightly encapsulating its massive maw! She plants herself firmly on the snake's head as an unexpected thing happens!

Out of its side, a head begins to emerge! Before they have a chance to react, in a blaze of crystalline shrapnel, the head hisses and explodes outwards, blowing Alex and Kally back! The crystal snake now has two heads!

Noss shakes his head as he finally comes to. He activates the hilt as an unexpected but adrenaline inspiring weapon is born of it!

The second head begins to charge at the unconscious Kally before a flash of yellow explodes upon the side of its head, causing half of its face to fly across the room! Noss grins as the hilt shows what it was truly hiding within. A giant Energy Crossbow more than half the size of his own body!

"WANT MORE, HUH?!" He says as the golden crossbow fires another bolt, only to miss due to the snake retreating underground.

"It's not over yet...!" Baron grimly states.


	12. Distorted Sagacity

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
Distorted Sagacity

* * *

They are already on the move!

No time is spared since the snake burrowed its way out of their base. It's made it to the bowels of the city, writhing and slinking around Micheal and the Knights' old stomping grounds. The tunnels were explored by many government officials after the Second War, but Micheal made sure to burn everything directly relating to the creation process of Model M. Either that, or such notes never even existed. All writing in the snaking labs of Micheal's delusion was about a misbegotten philosophy of life and death.

But that is neither here nor there. The snake is underneath Megaville, and it's up to the Saints of Crystallus to take it out of commission. This time for good!

The saints quickly make their way to the roads of the city, only to be met with a strange man who comes straight from the sky to stop them. The man is tall, wearing casual clothing and a red cap. He has long flowing red hair, and a robotic hand that extends from his forearm.

"Civilians? Get back! There is a monstrous creature loose in this city! Don't you hear the sirens?!" The man lets out. Barrett moves forward, making himself noticeable as leader of the group. "My squad is well versed in this creature's habits. In fact, we damaged it severely before it fled to the city." – "Really…? But…" He trails off as he looks behind Barrett. "Kids…?" – "They are fine, I assure you." The red haired man shrugs. "I suppose this world does need new heroes. Fine, now-" He tries to say as Barrett turns back to his group.

"The beast could be anywhere in the city. To minimize losses, we need to spread out as to catch it as soon as it emerges! Kally and I will head north, Noss and Alex, you go east. The south is barricaded by the police, so they can control that segment for now, that leaves Rose and the new guy, you guys got the west. Got it?" Everyone except the man nods. "Alright, let's go! Time's a wastin'!" The man callously lets out.

"Don't I get a say in this?" The man shrugs. "Just come on pretty boy." The older woman, Rose, lets out. The man sighs. "Brick. The name is Brick." – "Well come on Brick, you heard the boss." Rose bolts down the street with super human speed, piquing Brick's interest.

"Is… that a Chronometal? Nah… couldn't be." He shakes his head and follows her to the west of the city.

Several moments later, Baron and Kally skim the northern city. They can still feel tremors, but they are light. Almost non-existent. "Damn, nothing here." He lets out. "I hope the others can find it in time." Kally follows with.

To the east, Noss and Alex shrug and sigh, they can't even feel the tremors anymore. "We were way off…" – "Does that mean that Rose found it then? If we are this far off, the only logical reason would be that we ran directly away from it." – "Maybe... let's group up with them!"

Brick and Rose cautiously examine the surrounding area. Western Megaville is rumbling as if an earthquake were present. "It has to be here!" Rose lets out, squatting and placing her palm on the asphalt.

Just then she feels a jolt! "BACK!" She yells, Brick quickly obliging as the beast explodes from the ground below! Its large entwining body still mostly underground, it still towers over them with its two gaping maws! The Crystalline Serpent has returned for round two!

"That looks like another crystal being!" Brick lets out. "You know them?" – "The military has been tracking these things ever since Heroesbane! One appeared not too long ago, just under a year ago. It was a spider that rampaged through the streets! Not just Megaville, but nearly every city around the world has had at least one report of a single crystal monster attacking them. But those reports have died down recently, it's been nearly a year since anyone has seen anything!" Rose turns her gaze to the serpent licking its two mouths out of hunger and hatred.

"I'm sure Baron would love to hear what you have to say, but for now, we have to kill this thing!" – "Got it!" Brick goes into a battle stance and nears the slender suited woman! He considers her frame, sure she's fast, but she may be fragile. He ponders the possibility of her being a drag to him during this fight.

That is, until she takes out her weapon!

A black energy permeates the electric whip and her armor. Brick nods and trusts that she knows what she's doing. The snake bites down on them and she quickly ensnares one of their heads with the violent whip! Brick on the other hand counters with brutish strength, knocking the left head off balance! The right head hisses and heaves, causing Rose to be flung into the air!

"Can… can she fly?" He wonders to himself, quickly getting an answer as the snake bolts for her and she does nothing about it! He prepares to bolt to her rescue, but she quickly spins in midair and lands a heavy attack on one of the snake's fangs, allowing her to cascade off of it and gently fall to the ground along with the newly blown off fang. She quickly whips the fang at its eye and it punctures it, white crystalline water spraying everywhere!

"She's making me look bad…" He mutters to himself, storing energy in his left hand, his robotic hand! The snake once again tries to bite down on him, but a mixture of red and green energy bursts out, blowing the bottom of the snake's jaw clean off and having it slide along the road, slowly deteriorating into dust. He shakes his hand, steaming from the sheer power of it.

The snake roars and uproots its entire body, towering over three stories high! It coils up in defense and the left head's jaw quickly regrows, but without a coating of crystal armor. It looks like ice, brittle.

"Looks like we can kill this thing by simply blowing it to pieces over and over." – "Sounds good." Rose follows with. The near the snake, but its crystal skin fires out nearly skewering their respective heads! They bound backwards as it coils up again. "We can't get close right now…" – "Then let's use our ranged attacks- if you have any that is." Brick nudges. Without waiting for a response he arches his arms back, red and green energy roping its way up and down his arms.

Rose snaps her energy while and smacks the ground, causing an ebony shockwave to break its way to the snake, tossing it off balance! Brick unleashes his full attack at the snake! It braces itself by coiling up into a perfect spring! The obliterating attack strikes the beast, but it only serves to knock it into the air! It uncoils and hisses, its four red eyes shining as it views them!

It prepares to bare down on them, before something happens-

Out of nowhere, a huge machine with burly arms explodes out of the horizon! It has no legs, and instead stays afloat with huge jet-like engines! "Is that, the prototype war machine?!" Brick lets out, flabbergasted. "Wait… it looks different. Is… is that the finished model?!" Getting no answers from the equally surprised Rose, the machine snags the snake in mid-air, and with a feat of brutish technologically enhanced strength, it snaps in half! Bits of crystal and white liquid falling everywhere!

The two halves begin to writhe as the handfuls of snakes are smashed within the machine's grasp, quickly becoming nothing. It's…

Over.

The machine slowly descends to the ground, wind whipping past Brick and Rose as it nears the ground as if it were a helicopter. The engines turn off and the cockpit opens. An unassuming man leaves the machine and nears Brick. "Brick of the Rowdyroughs?" He raises an eyebrow. "Yes?" – "This is for you, from chairman Brisbaine." – "Brisbaine? Wait- chairman? Hand me that." Brick takes the file as the man nods.

This regular human pops in, destroys a monster, and delivers a message, only to casually get back in the machine. What kind of business is Brisbaine running back in Citysville? The war machine revs up, and in less than ten seconds it's already airborne and firing off into the horizon at Mach 2. The four other individuals Brick met briefly show up.

"Rose? Is the monstrosity subdued?" – "Yes, Barrett. With the help of this young man, and the machine you no doubt saw, it was destroyed. I imagine it won't be able to recover from that." Barrett sighs in relief. "That's good. Let's return to base, you all did well." Everyone nods and follows Barrett Electus back to the base, leaving Brick to himself.

He reads the various papers in the file handed to him. "Mandy… Mandy… Mandy… why is she coming up so much? What does Brisbaine want to tell me? Wait, Bubbles was interested in her too- OH CRAP! BUBBLES! THE HOSPITAL!" Brick takes off fast, forgetting something very important.

It's time!

* * *

"Are you sure about this?"

Doctor X asks. Boomer is lying on a table, prepared to enter a dark, horrible place.

"Yes. Bunny needs help, and I can give it to her." – "Yes… but your own mind may suffer from this intrusion! Before I press this button, I need you to tell me one last time. Are you completely sure about this?" – "I am. Do it, Utonium."

With a single press of a button, Boomer's eyes grow hazy as his consciousness fades and it moved to another area.

A dark area.

His consciousness is rendered in a higher plane than Bunny's. This is to say, he has arms and legs, his entire body really. Bunny is merely a floating consciousness, and it's up to Boomer to find it, and share his own energy with her.  
There is nothing here. An abyss so black that light cannot possibly exist. Yet this area is not real, he can still see himself, fully lit as if he were standing in daylight. Though there is not a single source of light anywhere.

His Shira powers allow him to feel the energies around him, even in this artificial environment. He can feel that Bunny is here, broken, but alive. But she will not stay that way for long. Sooner or later, her body in the real world may simply give out, her mind crushed by her sacrifice within Eden, Doctor X's artificial paradise.

He can hear murmuring around him. "Bunny." He says to himself. A purple orb of energy floats in front of him. It is a bit smaller than a human head, and it's bleeding a lot of energy. At this rate, it would be completely empty in a few days. He can hear the murmuring.

"Boomer… Boomer… Boomer… Boomer… Boomer…" It is spoken religiously, as if the being knows nothing other than his name. He remembers the warning Cranston gave him, but he doesn't need to heed it. He's Shira Boomer! His strength, both physical and spiritual is completely beyond measure!

He molds energy with his hands, funneling his own powers into a kind of web of energy. He cascades the strands of white luminescence onto the flickering purple orb. One by one, he feeds the bleeding speck. As if weaving energy into a living being, his two hands work artistically, bounding between careful movements and effective practices. Before long, the orb stops bleeding. He sends a signal back to the waking world.

Cranston views the table with bated breath. Boomer's unconscious body gives an involuntary 'thumbs up' with his right hand, his subconscious forcing him to do it. "That's the signal. Time to boot the secondary program… Subject One, I hope you know what you're doing…"

The black world shudders, a kind of gray static present beyond the dark haze. The orb writhes, more focus coming into it. Before long, the energy coalesces into an unconscious body floating in the abyss.

It's Bunny! Her mentality is stable enough to be maintained in Eden. Boomer knows that this was the plan, that he should stop now… but as he looks at her unconscious face as she floats in the darkness, he can't help but think it isn't enough. Her merely being alive longer isn't enough, he has to fix her.

He removes his dark cowl to show his face. His skin is pale, his eyes and hair are white. What was once a young blonde haired blue eyed boy is now an opaque ghost capable of leveling a small planet. All he cares about is repaying Bunny for what she did.

"One more thing…" He says, touching his forehead to hers and closing his eyes. "I will bear your burden."


	13. New Life, New Beginnings

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
New Life; New Beginnings

* * *

"Boomer…?"

Bunny opens her eyes to view a large green meadow. A meadow she feels like she should remember, but she simply doesn't. The skies are blue, the grass is a healthy green, the wind calms her newly extinguished soul. There is a being in front of her in a black cloak, the hood is down and she can see in full view who it is.

The black clad being smiles warmly, showing an emotion he had almost forgotten. "Bunny…" He says. Her ears perk up before she looks at herself. Her hair is brown and smooth, her clothes are purple, and in a radiant reflective puddle she can see her eyes. Purple eyes as well, a royal violet that shows a newborn consciousness within. "Bunny…?" She says to herself, placing a palmed hand on her chest and closing her eyes.

She must have forgotten everything. Boomer knew this was possible, but that's okay. He sighs, the mental transfusion taking a lot out of him. "It's… time for me to go." He says with weighted words, turning to leave this Garden of Eden. "Wait…!" She says, extending her arm. He turns back. "I… never asked for your name." – "…!"

Boomer expected this, but it still hurts to hear. She… has forgotten him. She held on for so long, saying nothing but his name, it's possible that even while chanting it that she completely forgot him.

"Boomer. Shira Boomer. Do you remember anything?" She shakes her head, her clean hair banking at the action. He chuckles a small bit, hiding the pain he's feeling. "That's okay. As long as you're alright, that's enough. Stay strong, Bunny. I may come to visit, some day." He continues to walk off, before fading into electric code.

Bunny is left to the gentle breeze, without a single memory in her head. But she has new memories. "Bunny… Boomer…" She closes her eyes. "I won't forget you, Shira Boomer…"

* * *

Boomer's eyes wake up within Black Eden. He turns his head to the right to see the table. Bunny is resting on it, her body is a lot more stable. Her chest rising and falling naturally, the pain born tears dried up and her face looking rather content.

"Boomer… I… you did it; you surpassed even my most optimistic predictions!" – "I told you… I can do anything…" – "Perhaps! Haha! Perhaps!" Cranston's many eyes show a genuine happiness. They are both happy that Bunny is still alive, but Cranston is more happy that he doesn't have to scrap the entire project in its entirety. Boomer is simply happy that she's okay.

"Now what…?" Boomer asks, catching Doctor X off guard. "Well, as far as Subject Two's condition is concerned, her vitals are stable- rising even. I imagine she will make a full recovery and her body will once again become healthy and vibrant, just like her mental readings." – "That's good… but what about me…? What do I do?" – "There is nothing I need you for right now. If you wish, you can do whatever you want." Boomer looks over to Cranston Utonium, his black cowl over his face.

"You mean… leave Black Eden?" – "If you wish, yes." – "… I may take up that offer…" – "Or perhaps, you can help me with a little… project…" – "Project?"

* * *

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod-" Brick and Dexter rock in their chairs, completely at a loss of what to do. Lynn is looking out the window, biting her fingernails. Everyone is nervous, very nervous, but they are also powerless. Dexter brought a whole bag of doctor's equipment and surgical things, but he only brought them to feel better about what's happening.

Bubbles is giving birth!  
"Shit." – "Fuck." – "Damn."

Brick, Dexter, and Lynn let out coarsely, getting sneers from people across the room. No children are present, luckily. Just very annoyed hospital staff. Dexter is pacing in front of the door muttering something to himself.

"Will I have a girl, will I have a son…?!" He says almost in tune with some kind of song. Though he takes breaks from his lyrics to bite his nails and look at the waiting room clock. A doctor walks out of the hall and into the waiting room and looks at their clipboard.

"Mister… Dexter? Miss… Lynn?" – "Yes?" – "Yes?" They both walk up to the doctor with bated breath, urgently expecting good news, but on the contrary…

"There… are complications…"

"WHAT?! COMPLICATIONS?!" Dexter yells out, being shortly followed by Lynn. "Please Doctor, what kind of complications?" – "Miss Bubbles Utonium requested Dexter and you by name should something like this occur. Our hospital is a bit understaffed and usually a normal abnormality within the actual birthing process, we are more than capable of dealing with it, but this is very advanced, and very urgent. I will tell you on the way." – "O-Okay." Dexter says, his blood turning to ice.

What could have possibly happened?!

"The first baby came out fine. Then something terrible happened." – "What happened- wait…" – "Wait…" Dexter and Lynn pause. "FIRST BABY?!" – "Yes, Miss Utonium is having twins." – "Oh my God." Dexter blurts. "But the second baby, there is a huge problem that we simply cannot handle." – "What?! What is it?!" – "The baby- there is no easy way to say this-" They say, nearing Bubbles' birthing room. "But the second child has been coming out wrong, and has been choking on its own umbilical cord for the past several minutes." – "What…?" Lynn says, feeling cold all of a sudden.

"I'm not sure what Miss Utonium wanted when she called you two, but I would assume it has something to do with your bag?" The doctor hints at. Dexter is still carrying this bag of surgical and mechanical equipment. "Our doctors are trained, but even our most optimistic projections put this at a failure. The baby is in such an angle where both Birthing and a Cesarean Section are impossible without endangering the newborn." – "That's why we're here!" – "You have experience with-" – "And so much more than you were about to say. I designed her prosthetic arm." He flaunts, but quickly goes back to being worried once they near the operation room.

"This is it. I have been given full clearance to allow you to utilize all of our recourses and staff for whatever you see fit." – "Thank you!" Dexter and Lynn run into the room to be greeted by a pained, crying Bubbles upon a birthing table. "G-Guys!" She says through pained huffs. "We're here now Bubbles! Don't you worry!" – "Th-The baby! Please, save our baby!" She says with a great deal of distress in her voice.

The doctors are all standing around Dexter waiting for his word.

"From what I've heard, a cesarean section is out of the question, but we still need that baby out of there, now. Exactly why is a C-Section out of the question?" – "The baby is already too far along, cutting into Miss Utonium now could endanger both of them. There is no easy way to access the baby without cutting way too close to Bubbles' major arteries!" Time is a factor and Dexter is still no closer than these Doctors to finding out a solution.

"What about from the front?" – "The baby was being birthed sideways and choked on its own umbilical cord. It's too wrapped up for a normal birth." – "God damn it…! What can we do?!" Dexter thinks for a small moment before Barasia walks up behind him. Her index finger changes to an incredibly sharp blade. "We have to sever that cord, now." – "I agree. Doctors! Work with my wife to cut the Umbilical cord. She's as stable as a machine, don't worry about her experience. I'll work from the front once it's finally severed!" – "Got it!"

Several moments of intense surgery pass, the amount of drugs Bubbles is on is getting to her head, but the pain is subverting the impending unconsciousness. "Please…" Is all she can say, her hazy eyes wandering around the room. Lynn very carefully severs the Umbilical from inside with her scalpel sharp extension with the precision of a Master Surgeon. "Done! It's all you now, Bubbles! Push!" – "GAH HAH!" She cries out in pain as the baby finally starts moving again, crowning as it finally straightens out! "Doctors, help me get this kid out! It may need emergency treatment! It was in there for way too long!" Bubbles musters the last of her strength reserves to finally push the baby out, but their worst predictions have come true.

It's not breathing!

Dexter's eyes dart around the room before a twinkle enters his eye. "Do you guys have a workshop nearby?!" – "W-Workshop? You mean for machines?" – "YES! Lynn, go to my lab and bring back the mobile mechanics pod!" – "Got it!" – "Y-Yes, we have one in the basement." – "We need to get this kid there now!" – "B-But-" – "This baby has been oxygen starved for way too long! Any conventional means of resuscitation WILL fail! I am an expert at bringing the recently dead back to life, but I need your workshop and my mobile pod for it, and these surgical tools! Meet me in the basement and lead my wife there once she arrives, she shouldn't be any more than half a minute or so!"

Dexter and several doctors run down the halls of the hospital, the baby's unconscious form wrapped in a towel. Bubbles has passed out from it all, and it's all up to Dexter to save this baby! "I won't let you die, you hear me?! You are going to live, I promise you!"

By the time Dexter makes it to the elevator, Lynn is already present with a large cylindrical device in tow. "Good work! We need to make it to B-1!" – "Got it!" Dexter and his group of Doctors and Lynn quickly descend the hospital to floor B-1.

Dexter runs out as soon as the doors open and hands the baby to Lynn, taking the Mobile Mechanics Pod. He slams the cord into a high charge energy socket attached to an external generator stored in this Workshop for Power Outages and it hums to life in front of him, exploding out into a mechanical bed with many different readers and beakers present. "Hand me the baby." Dexter takes the child and places it on the metal bed, putting a single needle in its neck. A white fluid flows down into the infant. "What is that?" – "Nano-Probes. Please, stand back."

Dexter takes another small device out of his surgical bag and fiddles with it on the Mechanical Bed. "Lynn, I need you to make an incision exactly one inch in diameter along this portion of her spine." Dexter points and motions along the baby Girl's back. "Got it." Lynn's finger once again turns into a tool of life and she expertly creates an incision. "Now, I need you to sever this part of the spinal cord." – "Wh-What?" – "Please, do it, we don't have much more time! The Nano-Probes won't react until I create an artificial base for them to be housed in! It needs to go right in the middle of her spine!" – "O-Okay!"

Lynn makes the incision which makes the Doctor's wince. They know that severing that cord will permanently cripple the child for life, even if it survives. But… these are drastic measures. The child for all intents and purposes… is already dead.

After the incision is complete, Dexter extracts the severed piece of the spine and replaces it with a metallic cylinder. After several more moments of intense surgery, the spinal cord reacts to the artificial replacement. A heart beat can be heard on the nearby heart monitor.

"Wh-What?! You… You did it!" – "We're not out of the woods yet. The heart may be going, but that's only because of the Nano-Probes. Her brain is what I'm really worried about! Lynn, I need you to make another incision, here. Into the skull." – "…!" – "I need to remove the part of the brain that control the heart and the lungs, indeed most of her major organs. The Nano-Probes will also take care of that, but we need another Nano-Steel housing in the brain!" Dexter takes another cylinder out of the bag and looks at Lynn, who reluctantly nods.

"Okay Dexter, I trust you…" – "You, Doctors! Go check on Bubbles!" – "Y-Yes sir!" Lynn cuts into the Baby's skull and removes the parts of the brain with such precision that a computer would be jealous. There would truly be no human being on the planet capable of doing this successfully. With the extraneous part of the brain removed, Dexter places the Nano-Steel cylinder into the newly made cavity and activates it." – "Okay… close her up…" Lynn nods and reapplies the skull plate and a skin graft to the child's head.

"Now… we wait…" The baby is breathing and her heart is breathing, but as Dexter said, that is due to the Nano-Probes. Whether she is truly okay or not is based on how she acts now.

Within a few short moments, they can see the baby trying to move its arm. It… was a success…

"Let's take her up to Bubbles…"


	14. Generational Gap

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
Generational Gap

* * *

"They're… beautiful…"

Bubbles chokes up, holding the two infants as one of them cries. "But you were saying something about… this one…?" She gestures at the one in her prosthetic arm. The baby wriggles healthily, but never cries. It seems to be content just to rest right now.

"I… did the best I could, but there may be problems to her health in the future. I'll do my best to keep her safe, I'll definitely keep an eye on her." – "R-Right…" Bubbles hesitates, attempting to hand the babies to Lynn and Dexter, but Lynn hesitates too. "Guys? What's wrong…?" – "…" – "…"

Dexter thinks he knows the problem, but it's not his place to try to break this up. This is a very complicated thing. "No, it was just, I was just thinking. Here, Lynn. Your daughter." Bubbles hands her the child with her left hand, the one that was born normally. Lynn's face and eyes melt as she holds it. "Oh my god…" She says softly, as if a prayer had come true. "Dexter…" Bubbles says, handing the other infant to Dexter.

He holds her in his hands once more, but can't help but feel a little sad. He looks over at Bubbles. "Are you going to be alright…?" – "Hmm? What do you mean?" She says with a betraying tone of voice, trying to mask the undertones of her emotions. "I mean… it's just-" – "Dexter, those are your kids. Yours and Lynn's. Take good care of them." – "But you can, I mean, whenever you want, don't hesitate! You can come and visit a-and play with them all you want-" – "I know, thank you Dexter." She says with a very slightly cracked voice.

"But besides…" She continues. "You guys left the hero business… this place I'm in; it's not one for children. This is for the best. I know it in my heart of hearts. After I take a couple of days to rest, I'm back on the streets, there is a villain brewing out there, and I'm going to find out who." Dexter nods as the infant seems to fall asleep in his arms. "Okay, Bubbles. Thank you for everything." Bubbles flexes her right arm, the arm Dexter expertly built for her. "Yeah… no problem…"

She pauses a small bit, before looking up with curiosity. "Did… you think of names for them yet?" Dexter and Lynn look at each other. "We kind of decided that we would decide once we saw the baby, you know? I mean, but two though. This may be hard naming them…" – "It shouldn't be that bad." Lynn reassures. She lifts her baby to eye level as it begins to cry again, her voice piercing and powerful.

"W-Well this one sure takes after her momma! Maybe we can name her Bubbles?" – "Bubbles Junior? I mean-" Bubbles tries to say, scratching her head. But then Lynn gasps as the baby opens its teary eyes to look at her. "I… I know her name…" – "…?"

She cradles the infant in her arms once more, allowing Dexter to get a look at her barely open eyes. Dexter nods as Lynn speaks.

"Blossom…" – "Huh? B-Blossom?" Bubbles stutters, before also getting a look at the kid's eyes.

Bright. Red. Filled with power. "Hah… Blossom, huh? It's a good name." – "What about this one?" – "Well, it may be boring, but maybe kind of the same thing? See if her eyes will open." – "Okay, I'll try." Dexter tickles and talks to the baby in his arms, coaxing a response as the child opens its eyes. What he sees shocks him. Lynn can also see but can only smile.

"Huh? What is it?" Bubbles asks, still too sore to be walking around anywhere. "Her eyes… they…" Dexter shows the baby to Bubbles. Once she sees the eyes, instead of shock, she only smiles. "-Are beautiful, aren't they?" – "Yes… they are…" Lynn reassures. Dexter takes a breath. "You're right, haha… maybe I was just overthinking it." – "Bell…" – "…?" – "Her name. I want it to be Bell. Doesn't she look like a Bell?" The baby looks back over at Dexter with her colorless eyes faintly blinking.

"Bell…"

* * *

*Meanwhile, somewhere in space…*

"Bell…" Doctor X whispers, scratching at a pod. C1-41-RE it says at its base. It's been a year since Gir showed him that this pod was stable compared to the others. Even now, less than ten remain, but this one remains intact and stable.

The girl sleeping inside is still growing. Her hair is starting to flow luxuriously. But, there's something about it that X can't put his finger on. "You called me, Cranston?" Shira Boomer walks into the room. "Ah, yes… there is a little project I've been working on. Would you happen to know about dimensional shifting?" – "That's a strange question to ask out of nowhere. All I really know is that Barasia; The Black Mother was brought into this world through something like that." – "Indeed. She was initially from another dimension. A catastrophically strong being brought from another realm to serve another's interests, doesn't that seem too good to be true? But it IS true, and I want one." – "Want… a Barasia?" – "Well, not exactly." He mutters something under his breath to the extent of already 'having' a Barasia-

"But something, someone, very similar. But not just one being, but two." – "Two? You want two Barasia-Like beings? Don't you understand how dangerous that is?" – "Ah-ha! But that's where you come in." Boomer raises his white eyebrow. "You're stronger than any single being this world has ever known. If these things I summon are only about as strong as The Black Mother, and they were… uncooperative, you could take them out no problem!" – "I guess, but why? Why do you want them?" – "My plans are slowly creeping towards their due date. Soon I will have to put all my eggs in one basket, and God help this world if the basket falls. That's why I need… security." – "And they would be the security? Why would they help you in the first place?" – "Oh, I think I can get at least one of them to comply."

Cranston X walks off into another room. Boomer looks around a little bit before following him.

"Are you aware of Micheal's research?" – "Hmm? What's this all of a sudden?" – "You see, I've been reading up some of the burnt texts he stored in his lab before the Military got their filthy mitts on it. Many of them were about this exact thing." – "Summoning the Black Mother?" – "Ah, that's the interesting part. When I was reading his files, he recalls a fallen memory, a memory of Time Squad, an event called The Barasia Project." – "The… Barasia Project?" – "Micheal was getting sickly and demented as the wars came to a close, his mind welling up with memories he couldn't stand, he scribbled what he could down hastily on barely legible parchment. I was very lucky to find these, one might say it was a Miracle."

X and Boomer enter the next room, this place looking like a kind of mechanics station, a place for building and maintaining machinery. It hasn't seen footfalls in years, when the door opened, dust gushed out of it. Everything is grimy and unkempt. "How long ago did you use this place?" – "About two years. This place is filled with failed experiments and… other things." Boomer looks around the room, almost feeling like he was being watched. He notices android after android, robot after robot, so many hanging from the walls, many of them outright destroyed, some only worn down by excessive misuse. "Are any of these still active?" – "Oh, no. The last machine I stored here, a robot failure that went by the name of Samantha was stored here from even before the Chronometal Wars." Boomer shrugs, his curiosity sated. "If you say so."

"Ah, but we have gotten off track, look. There." Doctor X points at two hunks of metal on a metal bed. "Are those… Chronometals?" – "Not exactly. Do you remember Bio-Symbiotes?" – "Oh, yeah, the thing Olga and the Knights were using." – "These are kind of like those, except instead of using an artificial soul to power them, I made it so they link directly to me! Whoever wears these will be bound to my life." – "So… you want to put those two beings in these?" – "Precisely…" – "Did Micheal's Notes ever explain how?" – "Ah, yes. The Barasia Project, the Black Mother… she will tell us." – "…?"


	15. A Future Always in Peril

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
A Future Always In Peril

* * *

"It was Megaville."

Buttercup says to Him, herself standing in the very familiar surroundings of Him's hellish landscape. "So… you come to me now because you are having visions of what you assume to be the future?" – "It's too vivid to be anything other than a premonition. All I remember was that I knew it was Megaville in the dream, and that everyone was dead. The city was underground, as if it had been smashed there for thousands of years." – "Hmm…"

Him places a pincer to his bearded chin as a voice speaks behind him. "The Ark…" – "Huh?" Buttercup responds. "Who was that?" – "Oh, Buttercup, I would like you to meet my new partner, Barthandelus." Him says, showing off the gigantic crystal mass behind him. "Huh?" – "Well, I'm not really this gaudy thing-" Barthandelus says, his body materializing out of the azure crystal mass in front of Buttercup.

He stands about seven feet tall, easily towering over Buttercup. He wears no clothing, though it is apparent his metallic body has nothing to hide. A main feature of his body would be his metal eyes and his gargoyle-like wing splaying out from his right shoulder. "Wait… you seem familiar…" – "Oh? I don't believe we've ever actually met, Buttercup." – "No, I definitely know you… but…" She says, scratching her head.

"Patience woman, it will come to you in time." Him reassures. "Woman?" – "…? What did I say?" – "N-Nothing…" Her mind drifts in thought. 'Has it really been so long?' She wonders to herself, looking down at her chest and sighing. 'Time moves on whether or not I accept it.' She shakes her head and gets back on the subject. "You said you knew me, Buttercup. Though we have never met." – "Maybe because of the same reasons I have dreams of things that haven't happened yet." – "Hmm… perhaps. Perhaps it is The Ark that gave you these abilities."

"The Ark? I mean, that would make sense… I guess…" – "Though you were only in direct contact with it for a short time. I wonder… why it affects you like this now?" Everyone stops and thinks a little bit before Him opens his mouth.

"It was because of me." – "What?" – "What?" They both say in unison. "I have been connected with Barthandelus, the Sleeping Ark ever since Buttercup slew Mandark in the Beginning of Time. Through that connection, I was also connected to Buttercup for a very long time. Through me, she felt you." – "Ah… that explains everything…" Barthandelus purrs. But Buttercup can't help but shake her head.

"Well, what am I going to do with it?" – "There's nothing you can do. This is neither a gift nor a curse. Both Barthandelus and I can see into the future as well. As far as I'm concerned, it's just one other reason you should join us for the long haul." – "About that…" Buttercup's brow furrows as she picks her next questions carefully.

"This long haul you've been talking about. How long are we talking?" – "As long as it takes. Buttercup, several years ago I told you that there is something in this world that I will need you for, something urgent, something so vital that I've barely had time to spare out of my immortal life to even contact you." – "What…? What is it?" Barthandelus looks at the giant crystal.

"Actually… why don't you see for yourself?" His echoed angelic voice lets out.

The gigantic crystal mass spasms as a black being's face can be seen within!

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Buttercup blurts, terrified! The being lets out an ear piercing screech as both Barthandelus and Him hover over the crystal! The crystal begins to shudder and break, but Him and Barthandelus use their magical abilities to instantaneously repair the fractures as soon as they appear! However, one lesion breaks through and something breaks through the hells and quickly bolts up to the world above!

"Damn… another one got through…" – "A-Another WHAT got through?!" – "Beelzebub's crystal minions. He's been growing in strength ever since he was imprisoned in the darkness of nothingness. Once he found a way to break free from the dead timeline of the Chronometal Wars, he went on a crusade against God himself! Ever since then, he's been polluting our world with his demonic essence, and he's only getting stronger with the passing of the days. Pretty soon, he will know he will have a free shot and unleash a Raging Beast upon Earth. No single city on the planet can withstand such a creature, and I fear he can summon dozens, if not hundreds of them if he spies even a single moment of weakness."

"How… how did this happen?! What the hell is going on?! What is that creature going to do?!" – "Unfortunately, hundreds of those creatures have gotten out in the past couple of years. They manifest on the surface as crystalline behemoths. They have been growing in strength, and unfortunately, there is no single way for us to stop him from growing infinitely in strength." – "…" Buttercup diverts her eyes.

"Buttercup, we need you." Him lets out, extending a clawed hand. She looks over at him timidly. "I… only just reconnected with my family… and you want me to leave them, now?" – "Buttercup, if we don't find a way to stop Beelzebub, there won't be a family, or even a world, left to go back to. I am asking you, not as a deity, nor as a friend… but as someone who can see the writing on the wall; will you join us?" Buttercup sighs.

* * *

"Another is coming…"

Barrett addresses the Saints of Crystallus as some of the more junior members seem to groan. "When is this going to end…?!" Noss lets out, frustrated. "This is just our second year, Noss. We still have many more ahead. They will become more frequent and more powerful the passing of the days. We simply have to endure until Barthandelus gives us the power to end this cycle, forever." – "Fine, fine…" Noss mutters in surrender.

Alex is off in the side of the room, messing around with her weapon. "Alex?" Kally asks. She looks back at her for a small moment. "Kally… did you help Baron design these weapons?" Alex asks, her red Katana brandished and fully activated. "Yes, I also helped him design the Alphametals. Why?" – "What is a weapon without something to store it in?" – "Beg pardon?" – "What is a sword without a sheath?" – "W-Well, the blade will never falter nor wane. There is no need for a sheath." – "I want one, make me one." – "What is this all of a sudden?" – "… You don't have to know yet. I'll help you design it according to my exact specifications. Follow me." – "W-Wait, what about the group meeting?" – "I get it. Monsters are getting stronger, monsters are everywhere. All the more reason to prepare. Now come." Kally groans.

"Where are they going?" Noss asks. "Don't mind them, they have the right idea. It's time to get some training done. From what I can tell, Citysville is about to be struck by a multitude of minor crystal beings in a few hours. I suggest that we both go and intercept them. Sharpen our skills and keep the city safe until the major beast shows up in Megaville by nightfall." Noss groans again, obviously fatigued. "I am so tired of fighting…" He whines. "We were chosen, Noss. Not because it was easy, but because it was hard. Now, let's get moving. If we're quick enough, we may have a few minutes to relax in Citysville." – "What about Rose?" – "She's… taking care of Izzy for today. It seems like only yesterday he began walking, now he's blazing a trail all across our house." – "Oh… sometimes I forget you're actually a dad." – "I try to keep work and family separate. Come, we have a job to do."


	16. Neglected Lives

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
Neglected Lives

* * *

Deep down, Noss always knew it was going to be this way.

Baron lures him in with some talk along the lines of 'It is fun' or something to that extent, and Noss ends up bored out of his mind, or exhausted from overworking. It's weird how it's one or the other, considering how fundamentally different they are. Right now, he feels like he can't find a suitable middle ground. It's 2 in the afternoon, the sun is burning his neck, and he's already taken out like ten of these things.

"Another at your six!" Baron yells out to Noss, who turns around and blasts it out of the sky with his new Energy Crossbow. A lot of big bugs, that's what these are. Wasps the size of horses, made of glassy crystals, and out for blood! But not while they're here. So far Noss and Barrett have (as far as they know) prevented every casualty that could have happened due to their diligence. The wasps have slowed their spawning, and it is apparent that they will stop coming after a while.

Noss lets out a fevered yawn, a mixture of boredom and true exhaustion. He hasn't slept in days, it's been nothing but training, planning, and surprisingly enough… praying. Noss could never really get in on the praying part, but if there is a God, Noss heard him choose him in Megaville that day.

"I think that about does it for today Noss." – "Oh, is that all?" Noss yawns drearily through the intercom. "And here I was having the time of my-" He says before his eyes fixate on something. "Hold on…" – "Noss? What is it?" – "Shh! I'm trying to hear!" – "…" Noss abruptly silences his commander and tries to look and listen in on a group of people standing in a window. Why Noss's eyes and attention were drawn to these specific individuals is unknown, even to him.

But there's something about them… a kind of sixth sense if you will, that's tipping Noss off. From what he can see, they look like teenagers. About four of them, three women and a man. They are all talking and looking out the window before Noss finally understands why his sense was tipping him off to them!

One of the women climbs onto the window sill! It has to be a six story drop, there's no way she would survive… "Wait, she has a kid?! What is she doing?!" – "Noss? What do you see? Noss!" The woman with the baby in her arms prepares to jump and Noss puts his energy Crossbow away and runs at her, seemingly forgetting that he's also very high up! "CRAP!" – "NOSS!" Noss begins to fall, his Alphametal is built to withstand impact, but not this much impact!

"Come on you piece of crap! I saw you let Kally run on walls! I NEED TO DO IT NOW! SHE'S GOING TO KILL HERSELF AND HER CHILD!" He yells at his armor, seemingly unaware to the real danger present to himself, and instead focusing all of his energy on the falling teenage woman! He only has a few seconds to bound over several buildings and save them, and his armor begins to realize that!

Without even thinking, his armor allows his feet to grasp onto the vertical side of the building and cannon himself off of it, dashing at her in mid-air at speeds which break the sound barrier and cause a gale to cross the teenagers' building as he nears the bottom of it, and catches the young woman.

"Wh-What? Who the hell are you?! Why did you stop us?!" – "What the hell are you smoking you crazy bitch?! You almost killed yourself and your kid!" – "What do you know, huh?! We lost everything!" Before Noss has a chance to respond to the distressed, depressed, suicidal woman, the front doors to the building open in a gust and someone or something rushes out of it incredibly fast!

Was it human?!

Before Noss knows it, his sixth sense is going off again and he takes out his boot machete and quickly blocks an attack from behind! He finally gets a chance to look at what just ambushed him, it is indeed a human. But to his surprise it was that male teenager he saw, grinding against his energy machete with a solid sword!

His brown hair and matching eyes meet Noss's with a particular flair about them. As if this person was no stranger to murder, and if Noss was just a little slower, he would have been little more than another knick on his otherwise perfect looking blade! "Who the… h-hell are you?!" Noss grunts, forcing his energy into his machete to block the force from this admittedly large adolescent. Something to remember, Noss isn't quite a teenager himself yet, and this kid in front of him must have loved eating his cereal and drinking his milk.

This is a big kid! Even strengthened by his Alphametal, this boy forces his master craft blade with such power that Noss briefly considers this man to be a demon! Noss takes his other boot blade out and whips the sword to the left to give himself some breathing room. The man spins his sword and places it at his side in a battle stance.

"My name is Neil, and you're interrupting a very important religious ceremony." – "CEREMONY?! She was going to kill herself, and her baby!" – "She was going to be free from his terrible world along with her dearest! There is no place for us in it any longer, but no more words, you shall die now!" The boy lunges at Noss, who is through being taken by surprise! Noss's short blonde hair spills over his eyes as he goes into a battle mode, this particular asshole getting on his last nerve already!

Big sword or not, he's still human, and Noss has an Alphametal! Neil cleaves down with his sword and Noss arranges his knives in a cross, catching it in mid-air and spinning it out of Neil's grasp! Noss was sure that would give him a second to close in, but as soon as the sword leaves his hand, Neil barrels in and lands an incredibly dense punch to Noss's chin, knocking a single tooth out! If Neil hit anywhere else, the attack probably would have done nothing… but his Alphametal does not protect his face unfortunately…

Noss spills to the ground for a short moment before boomeranging back up, by then Neil already has his sword and is attacking again. "OH COME ON! How is it that I have the Alphametal, but you're the one on the offense all the time?! Screw this!" Noss blurts out, unamused and willing to end this as fast as possible! He whips out the hilt to his Energy Crossbow, and right before Neil slashes at his chest, the Crossbow explodes out in a glorious golden light, blasting Neil into an adjacent dumpster! From here, Neil takes aim!

"Good bye you freak!" He lets out, putting his finger on the trigger-

"STOP!"

Neil barely has the strength to rise from the garbage, but Noss puts his weapon away, the Crossbow vanishing in a puff of golden electricity. It was Barrett Electus who called the ceasefire. Noss motions to talk, but Baron just shoots him a glare and he stops. Baron looks over at Neil and walks to him. He weakly reaches for his sword, but at this point he's not even strong enough to pick it up. It seems this guy really is human after all…

"You." – "Me?" – "You said something about a religious ceremony. To what God does this ceremony appease?" Neil raises an eyebrow, seemingly not expecting a philosopher among the fetid lesions of this corrupt world. "Barthandelus…" Noss nearly spits over himself were it not for Baron once again shooting a glare over at him. Instead, Baron remains calm and collected.

"I think we've all come to a misunderstanding. You see, my young ally and I also serve Barthandelus, watcher of the Crystal below" – "I… see… so you're the one I was sent to find…" Barrett nods and extends the young man his hand. "No hard feelings?" The boy smirks.

* * *

Ruby sits alone in her room. Her parents aren't home. Though lately, it's seeming more and more like they were never here to begin with. Their minds are always somewhere else, as if Ruby is no longer the torn child Lynn found in the orphanage. Was this all just a fling? Was this whole new family thing just a big joke? She sighs to herself before she hears the front door open. Her ears perk up when she hears a baby-

Her eyes light up when she hears another!


	17. Blossom, Bell, and Rivalries

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
Blossom, Bell, and Rivalries

* * *

It's been several minutes.

The exacerbated, surprised looks have passed, and now all that is left is to talk. Ruby is ten going on eleven years old, but to people who see her, and even to herself, she seems so much older. War has a way of beating the innocence out of us. She sits on the couch, as her adoptive parents sit with her, each carrying one child. Dexter carrying the crying one, Lynn carrying the calm one.

"Blossom… and Bell?" Ruby recaps. Lynn nods warmly. "These are your sisters, Ruby." – "So… then, Bubbles really went through with it?" Dexter cocks his head. "Why, of course she did. Why do you ask?" – "Nothing… it just seems a little weird to me." Lynn shrugs. "Surrogacy is an admittedly strange concept, at least it seems so at first, but it's the greatest gift one person can possibly give another family, a family unable to produce their own child." Lynn looks to the carpeted floor. She's happy and all, but some minor questions still itch at her mind.

"You could have adopted, too." – "Yes, we could have, but when that shooting start passed through the sky, we knew what we wanted. At we were going to look to other people, but Bubbles was our friend, and we wanted to tell her first. Even if it didn't work out, she would know that we were trying to expand our family." – "I… guess that makes sense." She looks over curiously at the white eyed one.

"She's not doing much, is she?" Ruby remarks as Blossom cries in her other ear. Lynn smiles and cradles the baby. "She's so mild, I'll give her that. Blossom is very loud, so loud in fact that we almost named her Bubbles, haha!" Ruby smiles wryly as she looks over at the other child in Dexter's arm. "Two little sisters, huh?" – "We were only expecting one. We're as surprised as you are!" Dexter laughs as the bounces the baby a little bit. "Well, Blossom looks like she's finally getting tired. Let's head up to the baby room, Lynn." Lynn nods and they take their leave of the couch.

"Two sisters…"

* * *

"That should do it."

"Good, that was an ordeal." Kally huffs. "Don't rest now, you still have to help me test it." Alex lets out, her Energy Katana's base now attached to a very high tech multipurpose sheath. Unfortunately for Kally, the mechanics bay is just a short walk away from the training arena. "Well let's just get this over with then. Just remember that you haven't unlocked your Alphametal's true power yet. This sheath may imbue your blade with some power, but please remember that you couldn't beat me with Noss's help." – "Now will be different, I'll show you."

They take their places at the ends of the training room. Without them noticing, Rose enters the side of the room with a particular hyperactive one year old on her shoulders. She sits down on a nearby chair and watches them as they begin their initial attacks.

Kally takes out her energy Rapier and slowly approaches Alex, who merely has her hand on her blade's handle as it is attached to the sheath. She revvs it like an engine as Kally gets closer. The sheath is long and metallic, attached near the rim of it are small throwing knives for quick access. The sheath itself was specially designed by them to store excess energy generated by the Katana to be released in rare circumstances. The energy generated would more than make up for her lack of a fully tuned Alphametal, Kally realizes. It's due to that fact that she is hesitant to make the first move.

Alex's reddish eyes focus intensely on Kally's every move. But then Kally goes in for the first attack! Alex spins her katana and allows it to explode out of its sheath, unloading all of its power at once, causing a shockwave of red energy and sparks! However, Kally takes a handle out from behind her back and activates it, showing a kind of weapon that no one other than Baron has seen! Alex's blade nears Kally, but her new item shows itself to be a center ridged energy buckler! The catastrophically powerful Katana harmlessly washes over the buckler and Alex's eyes go wide.

"My turn." Kally taunts, bashing Alex back with the blunt end of the shield and keeping her on her toes with rapid stabs from her rapier! Kally feels like toying with Alex a small bit, but that's before she feels a cold heavy feeling hit her head! Kally bounds backwards and rubs her head- "OUCH, damn it! Did you just hit me with the sheath-" She tries to say as Alex is already up in melee range again! To Kally's astonishment, Alex is using both the sheath and the sword in a weird fighting stance Kally has never seen before!

Her buckler tames the Katana easily enough, but the solid sheath proves to be an object of immense force that her Rapier cannot parry! Kally bounds backwards and throws the Buckler at Alex who is surprised at the action and attempts to block with her sheath! The shield grinds and slashes forcefully at the metal sheath, but it's so well made that no real progress can be made! Right before the shield loses energy, it boomerangs back to Kally and she spins it in her hand. It appears that neither of them know each other's secrets quite yet.

In all honesty, that only excites them!

Alex sheaths her Katana once more and goes for a more passive approach, switching to the energy knives on the side of the sheath and her own Alphametal. The fly quick and true, but Kally is just fast enough to block and smack them out of the way! Kally holds the medium sized buckler with both hands and activates her Alphametal's energy reserves to cannon her off with blue energy in her wake! Alex furrows her brow and braces for impact as the blue meteor nears her! She cements her feet to the ground and fortifies her sheath at both ends with her hands!

Kally's energy rush meets the sheath and blue energy fogs off of the impact zone, causing small electric charged tornados where they stand! Kally's energy dies down and she switches to her Rapier, but at that moment Alex twists her sheath and her Katana and it explodes out in energy once more! Both of the weapons meet as blue and red energies collide! More and more energy envelopes the room, blowing papers away and causing the walls to crack!

At that moment they can hear a baby cry and they stop!

"R-Rose?! When did you get here?!" Kally lets out, flabbergasted. Before she can get an answer, a keen sucker punch from Alex sends her flying to the floor. She shakes her head and looks up at Alex. "OUCH! What the fuck was that for?!" Her eyes go wide and she rises to her feet again. "The battle isn't over yet!" – "Izzy is crying- damn that hurt, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Kally winces, rubbing her face. "Stop complaining and defend yourself!" Alex once again unleashes her Sheath's power, only to have Kally block it expertly once more. Alex switches back to her odd dual wielding sheath stance and goes on the offensive again, but Kally can only see red!

Instead of trying to block every attack, Kally manages to get a few quick thrusts in! They both land glancing strikes on each other, drawing trace amounts of blood, Kally's shield serving to prevent the overpowering effect of the sheath! From the side of the room, Rose can see a kind of emotion is Alex's eyes.

"Is she trying to bait something out of Kally?" She wonders to herself.

Kally strikes down hard, only to be crossblocked with the Katana and Sheath and thrown off balance with a powerful riposte! Alex sheaths her weapon for only a second so that she can call upon its hidden energies one last time! Red sparks and bolts fly as she goes for what looks like a killing blow! Only Kally's Alphametal glows an intense blue as she catches the sword in midair with her left gauntlet after throwing her shield! Alex tries to force the blade free, but Kally rushes forward and head-butts Alex right in the face, causing her to fly backwards with a stream of blood leaving her nose! Kally's blue hair is slightly tainted with a splotch of blood now.

Kally picks up Alex's Katana and goes into her own dual wield stance, Blue Rapier in her right hand, Red Katana in her left! She runs after Alex who only just now regained her bearings and unleashes a barrage of slashes and stabs! Alex blocks with her slightly armored arms, causing red sparks to fly, and small amounts of blood to spray after every heavy attack!

Alex completely botched this, and she knows that. Kally goes for Alex's legs and trips her to the ground and points her rapier at her throat. "I win."

She throws the Katana to the ground as it deactivates, becoming little more than a handle on the cold floor. "Don't you ever fucking sucker punch me again."—"Or what?" Alex taunts, causing Kally's eyes to narrow. "Or I'll consider our next training session to be blood sport." She rubs her cheek, tasting a small amount of blood, spitting it on the floor and walking away.

"Serves me right trying to help you." Kally walks out of the room. "A little more… a little more and she might go for it…" Alex thinks to herself, relishing the thought of a truly enraged Kally. "Maybe once she actually tries to kill me, I can unlock this thing's power, then we'll see whose stronger you little upstart." She seethes, picking back up her Katana.

Alex really doesn't like being beaten.


	18. Things Buried Always Arise

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
Things Buried Always Arise

* * *

The babies are asleep.

Dexter was needed at his work late this evening, so Lynn is home with the kids. All three of them. Ruby decided to go for a little walk a bit ago, and even though it's late, Lynn had no real objection. It gives her well needed time to think.

She has two more kids now, but the problem with Ruby's Mother still hasn't subsided. Rose, the woman Lynn back when she still identified herself as Barasia is still out there. For the longest time Lynn thought she was dead, only to have Utonium drop news of her good health right after New Year's. Lynn felt that she should have been happy, but she only felt crippling anxiety and self-pity. As the days go on, Lynn comes to hate herself more and more. Why hasn't she told Ruby yet?

Would Ruby run off for her? Would she hate Lynn for waiting this long? Worst of all, if Ruby went back to her real mother, she might know more about the Chronometal Wars, Ruby might find out that…

That Barasia caused all of this. She took the fact that Lynn was really a Robot well, but… this… She shakes her head, remembering that she's in her own house, and now she has two other kids to worry about. Blossom and Bell, who are both asleep so soundly, though Lynn worries for Bell's health, who knows what kind of life altering things will occur with her with all the problems she had during birth?

Lynn had hoped that moving to Colorado, she could have escaped all of the dark feelings the Chronometal Wars left behind, but even now she finds herself returning to Megaville every now and then.

Her projects still aren't complete. Her own personal 'Barasia Projects.' A haunting clock ticks in the back of her mind.

"Eight years." She says to herself. "Eight years… then what happens, happens…" She reminds herself of the talk she had with Ruby last year. She was afraid that the Chronometal Wars would begin again, but Barasia knows from firsthand experience… that the world was still here and still will be here…

Eight years from now. But after that, it's anyone's guess after that. That's why Barasia's Project has to work. A green world, protected by copies of herself, the only people she can trust her family's future to. "The Barasian."

* * *

"Another is coming."

Boomer is overlooking Megaville, knowing one hell of a monster is approaching very fast. "Beelzebub… why do I know that name…? Who is Beelzebub?" Boomer's white eyes shine through his dark cloak as the ground begins to rumble. Repairs have barely finished from the beast that attacked Megaville not too long ago, people fled here from Citysville, but it turns out that nowhere is safe anymore.

People are slowly coming to realize just what is happening. Hope is dying.

Fire Hydrants bust open and cars swerve off the road into buildings, the tremors are now so intense that the entire city appears to be blurry! Dust and debris fall from buildings as their foundations buckle! Boomer knew this was coming, though he doesn't know why. He is not sure of what he is entirely capable of yet, though he knows that his brother may yet be stronger.

Or perhaps it was simply the shock of seeing Butch choose Brick that lowered Boomer's power?

A piercing howl shatters windows as the beast from below bursts from the roads, blasting busses and cars aside! The beast has a four riveted jaw, opening at all sides to see the inhuman insides of the crystalline being! Its body is snakelike, even towering several stories into the air; its entire body hasn't shown itself yet! Its two arms are tipped with gigantic scythes capable of hewing buildings asunder! Crystalline frills splay out from behind the creature's head!

Boomer considers sending this thing back to hell with a snap of his wrist, before lights show up on the horizon. Without looking, he can already feel who it is.

"Brick… and Bubbles…" He says to himself, still observing the situation.

"Another one?!" Brick lets out, turning back to Bubbles. "Hey, are you sure you're up for this? You're still in physical therapy." – "I'm fine, but these people won't be if we don't hurry!" – "Just don't strain yourself, you just had a kid!" – "Two!" She corrects, taking off before him. He groans and follows. They reach the center of the city as the clouds quickly split with thunder and begin to rain!

They were so certain of themselves a moment ago, but now that they see this beast, they aren't so sure. It's so much bigger than any of the other crystal beings have ever been! Brick had a hard enough time with the crystal snake! But this thing is just sarcastically big! Its serpentine body is as thick as a building, and its now rain-wet scythes gleam.

Abyssal eyes shine as it views those two and it howls once more, arching its head back and once again causing windows to shudder and break! It cleaves down at Brick who barely has time to react at its speed! He claps his hands together and holds its single blade at bay! Bubbles takes this moment to charge at it, but its mouth unleashes a torrent of azure energy which fries her in mid-air!

"BUBBLES!" Brick yelps as a smoldering visage begins to fall to the ground! Bubbles?! Taken out it one hit?! What the hell is this thing?! It reels back and swipes at Brick with its remaining scythe! Brick has to call upon all of his energy reserves bestowed upon him by his late brother, Butch, just to manage to stop the second scythe!

"This… is… ridiculous…!" Brick huffs, exerting so much strength that he can feel his muscles collapsing from holding both of these things back! It screeches in what seems like animalistic pleasure as Brick's energy quickly fades to nothing! A thunderbolt breaks through the air, illuminating the transparent beast! To Brick's surprise, he can see Bubbles on the other side!

"HAAA!" She yells out, a black blade quickly blasting the beast's spinal column to pieces! Its scythes loosen and Brick wriggles himself free of that doomed situation! Bubbles; sword in hand, prepares to strike once more, until she notices the spine is already mostly regenerated! Before either of them have time to realize that this beast will just regenerate from all damage taken, Brick is smacked down onto the top of a nearby building and Bubbles barely manages to stop being impaled by its scythe!

She grunts as it exerts demonic strength! Brick's eyes go fuzzy as he begins to lose consciousness…

"Is it… over…? Are we going to die… here…?" He mutters to himself as his head hits the roof and he passes out. Boomer above doesn't find this amusing. He quickly flies to Bubbles' side undetected, his black cloak fluttering behind him! The beast begins to land a killing blow on Bubbles, but Boomer is no longer entertained by this specific beast!

Bubbles braces to get hit, only to hear the beast cry out in agony and retract its original scythe! She opens her eyes to see the black robed being from before! "BOOMER?!" Bubbles blurts. He doesn't dignify her outburst and simply returns to the matter at hand! He drops the scythe he ripped off as it fizzles into energy below. It begins to regenerate another one, but Brick unleashes a blast of white energy to blow half of its torso to bits!

His right arm gleams with a similar white energy and quickly approaches the head of the beast! It attempts to bite down on him, but his white energy has no trouble blasting its head clean off! Bubbles can only stand, awe struck and too fatigued to do anything about it.

The beast's crackling body falls, slowly fizzling away into nothing, mimicking the sound of a tree breaking as it falls in the forest. The rain continues to pour, but moonlight finally breaks through the storm clouds.

Bubbles prioritizes Brick's health and floats over to him. He's still unconscious. Bubbles can only make out a single white eye as Boomer looks over one last time before rocketing into the air, instantly vanishing amongst the remaining clouds.

"…"


	19. The Hidden World

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
The Hidden World

* * *

It's been months.

Everyone seems to have settled back into their lives. The month is December; the year is nearing an end, an end to the second year of this Black Decade. Ever since the beast that Bubbles and Brick destroyed was toppled, the attacks to cities around the globe by crystal beings has slowed, but not stopped. If anything, the erratic attack patterns are causing even more casualties.

One girl sits in her room. She's getting better, many of her memories are more or less restored, but her body is still fragile and weak, not to mention a lot of the memories are in very low detail, missing key elements, such as places and people.

"Susan…" She says to herself. Her hair has grown long, but well kempt. She has taken care of herself as best as her body can withstand. It wasn't until recently that she's been able to bathe herself, or cook her own food, though she still prefers the instant stuff. Her days are usually comprised of equal parts self-induced meditation and watching world news. She would have expected that the events of the Two Chronometal Wars and Project Heroesbane would have killed worldwide hope.

But in truth, people all around the world have never seen more confident. In fact, she is watching TV right now. It's late; Bubbles and Brick are out again, leaving her alone. The newscasters can't professionally hide their skepticism at the situation at hand. New tallies are in and it shows that more than 50% of the world's population has been lost since The Chronometal Wars first began, a good portion of the people lost were during the zenith of The Panic, where the out of control Model M's completely decimated the southern hemisphere.

Though of course, Olga here had to learn about those from a third party. During the bulk of Heroesbane, she was unconscious, or mentally broken. She remembers all of the sacrifices she made during the wars, slowly coming to terms with just how stupid she was. She turns off the TV and lays on the couch, her body a little too sore from the actions of the morning to limp herself up to her bed. But the last thing she will ever do is pity herself.

Deep down, she knows she deserves everything that happened to her. She came to this realization the other day, realizing that Brick and Bubbles, both people who have lost more than most, taking her in under their protection. Bubbles lost her sister; Brick lost his brother- and lost contact with his other brother. Yet Brick not only still fights, but he protects herself, Olga. Bubbles too, though she is almost never home anymore.

While Brick averages about 10 hours a day in this house, mostly sleeping, and checking on Olga, Bubbles can go days without ever checking in. But that's okay with Olga, she knows Bubbles is busy, and in another world she would never consider Bubbles a true friend anymore. Not with what Olga did. No matter how well-meaning Bubbles is, nothing can ever repair a wound that deep. You can only ever hide it.

Olga has been feeling weird ever since 'Boomer' showed up that day, like she can hear far away whispers very faintly if she sits still and makes no noises. Her robotic implants help keep her soul from drifting away, but it also leaves her rather open to the spirit world. Every now and then, she can hear what she can only explain as a ghost. But it doesn't bother her; they are quiet, well-meaning ghosts. Most of them sad, only a very few of them are angry. She usually can't hear them if her thoughts drift or if she's watching TV, but sometimes she wants to hear them. Most of them say the same thing.

"Beelzebub."

* * *

"So you…"

"Yes…" – "And you…?" She only nods. There are three people in this room. A slender, lanky looking scientist with blue hair, an unassuming woman with brown hair, and of course… the ringer to them all…

Otto.

He received an encoded transmission from somewhere not too long ago. For so long he had thought his role in these wars had come to an end. All of Time Squad was dead, Larry, Buck, all gone. But these two individuals contacted him with knowledge of the future, and with a plan to save it. To his amazement-

"So, Micheal… how does your new body feel?" Otto asks. Micheal is here, but not in his original body. "It's different. This guy didn't do a lot of working out. It's a rather unhealthy body." – "Luckily we shouldn't have to be doing much fighting. And you, Elly?" He asks the woman to his left. Elly was once Micheal's Right Hand Woman, but along with Micheal, she lost her life defending Time Squad.

"This woman is a little older than I'm used to, but as you said, if we're lucky, it shouldn't really be a problem." Otto nods, looking back at Micheal in his new body. "Do you guys know who your bodies were originally called?" – "Apparently this guy was called Francis. He had a daughter, but abandoned her a long time ago for her own good. He never married. Apparently he was a scientist in deep with the American Government, a good position to be in if we ever need a favor." – "And you, Elly?" Elly sighs, Micheal following-

"She was placed within her mother of this universe." Otto's eyes go wide, before reeling them back. "Are… you okay?" – "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just; I've been in Time Squad so long I forgot what she looked like. It took Micheal and I nearly two years to find each other, it took me a little longer to finally remember whose body this was." – "So how exactly did this happen?" Elly and Micheal take a breath; it's time for a speech they've been practicing for a long time. Micheal, within Francis's body, goes first.

"After Briarus sent us to this universe within our own bodies, our original bodies were rejecting us. It drove Micheal and Elly to insanity. Unfortunately, we never got around to finding Drax. He died before Briarus could save him; it's likely that he's never going to return. Once Dexter finally killed Micheal, and Elly was killed by Mandark for good, our souls were freed, but were not placed within the Bio-Symbiotes like the Micheal and Elly of this universe." Elly follows-

"The Second War began and our souls wafted to find new bodies. The closest two compatible bodies from where we died was Francis and… my mother. They must have been looking for someone. Francis had a daughter, so he must have been looking for her until Micheal was placed within him. Unlike the first time, we are in full control now. We really are Elly and Micheal this time." – "Interesting… and you were telling me about, some kind of Other Otto?" Micheal nods.

"If it wasn't for our Universe's version of you, we never would have made it out. We knew that as soon as we got our bearing back, we would need to find this Universe's Otto." – "…" Otto goes silent. "You got the wrong guy, I can't help anyone." Micheal and Elly look at each other, then back to Otto. "This world is coming to another war, a war that will swallow this entire universe in nothing but Blackness if you don't help us." Otto looks up. "There's always another war. I promised myself that after I helped Barasia, that I was done with all of this. All of my friends are dead; I have no family to go to… my role in this has already ended. I'm flattered that you came to me, but please… go… I have nothing to offer anyone."

"Surely you've heard the rumors of Beelzebub spreading throughout the 'insane' community? People hearing ghosts and spirits howling his name! We fought Beelzebub once and we WON Otto, with YOUR help!" – "…" Elly follows- "Otto, I saw you grow up from a kid into an adult capable on taking the entire World's Burdens on your own shoulders. There is another Otto out there, looking down on us, but he can't help us with this. Only you can! Please, Otto!" – "What can I even do?!" He yells!

"I can't Time Travel! Time Squad is broken! I can't fight, I'm just a kid! I left everyone behind in Megaville, I have no connections!" – "But you have us!" Micheal extends his hand to Otto. "Come with us! We need to find Barasia and Dexter! They are once more, the keys to saving this world!" Otto laughs a small bit. He's not a kid anymore, roughly 20 years old, but... well… he's got nothing better to do.

"You guys really don't take no for an answer, do you?" Otto exclaims, grabbing Micheal's hand. "You know, I knew deep down, that we were always friends, Micheal, even though the version I saw of you in my universe was… well… insane." – "He was a poor soul indeed, may he rest in peace. But now his legacy and the legacy of all that followed him cry out for us to save this world, one last time. A dark age is coming, and this world must be prepared for it."

"And here I thought this was just going to be another boring day." Otto exclaims, getting a slap on the back from the now middle aged Elly. "Come on, let's go. We have to round up the other people." – "Other… people…?" – "Why, the Powerpuff Girls and Olga of course."

"We're going to remake The Knights!" Micheal Francis smiles. "And do it right this time!"


	20. The First Battle of Unity

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 1  
The First Battle of Unity

* * *

"Alright, I'm here, Him."

"Good Buttercup, now all you have to do is wait." – "If that thing is as strong as you say, who says I can stop it?" – "Stopping it on your own would be impos- er, difficult. But I've given you my demonic powers once more. You are immortal once again. Your job is to tell everyone that the beast is coming and to run, then once it does come out, hold it off until backup arrives." – "About that… what backup am I expecting?" Buttercup asks. To her surprise, Barthandelus is the one to respond.

"Long before you joined us, I've been recruiting members of especially capable individuals, and giving them orders not much unlike the orders being passed onto you now. While they weren't as capable as you were at first, they've grown into quite a force. Normally, I would send them to other areas to handle crystal incursions, but Beelzebub has been charging all of his energy into what's coming next. I fear it is one of the 'Raging Beasts' I told you about before, Beelzebub's most terrifying creations." – "That doesn't sound good…" She looks around her.

She's near Houston, Texas. This city has been spared from crystal monsters for the past few months, I guess it's fitting that one big one comes to cash in the debt. Buttercup flies into the city-

And to her surprise, it looks like people are prepared. "Him, Bart, the people here are mobilizing." – "Oh?" Him lets out, with Barthandelus following. "I… did not tell any humans other than The Saints of Crystallus of this coming invasion." – "I'll check it out, hold on." Buttercup lands outside the city gates as a military man walks up to her.

"You can fly." He says up front, puzzling Buttercup. "Yes?" – "You're a superhuman, good, go meet with Captain Mandy. She can put you to use around the perimeter." – "Um… okay…?" Buttercup walks into the city, as puzzled as ever. The city is on lockdown and it appears that this strange military force is keeping people indoors. This is a good thing, Buttercup realizes, but she has no idea how these people figured out that a Raging Beast is coming.

She marches near the center of the militarized zone to be met with a young woman giving a speech on a quickly built podium.

"To recap!-" She yells, her reddish eyes and brilliant blonde hair casting a stark opposite to the blackness of her military uniform. "All civilians are to stay indoors for no less than six hours! Lock your doors, do not answer them for anyone, and stay in a room with no windows! A great monster is coming, and I, Mandy, will ensure its destruction!" Buttercup cocks her head. 'Mandy?' she thinks to herself. She vaguely recalls the girl from Megaville elementary, but she always stayed in the background, never making herself the center of attention.

Yet here she is, some kind of… well, dictator.

"Many of you here today are superhuman, or self-proclaimed heroes! You will help us defend this city for the greater good, will you not?" A small wave of cheers passes in the audience. Most of these people do look seasoned, this wouldn't be the first time people saw these crystal monsters, it's been two years since they've first started showing up.

"Buttercup…?" A familiar voice in the crowd catches her ear. She turns behind her to see none other than Otto! Her eyes light up, but her face shows a little more than a gentle smile. "Otto, it's good to see you. I guess everyone's here today, huh?" – "Yeah. Actually, we were kind of looking for you." – "Huh? We?" Buttercup blurts, seemingly not realizing that Otto is with two other people. "Oh, sorry. I'm Buttercup, and you are?" She says, addressing the blue haired man. At that point he opens his mouth as if to speak, but his face suddenly goes pale and it feels like he has a frog in his throat. Otto quickly realizes what is going on and breaks into a cold sweat-

"A-Ah! Buttercup, there's something I have to explain first-" Otto tries to say as the ground rumbles! Mandy speaks up from the podium again. "This is not a drill!" She booms out with command! "The beast will be here in T minus 5 minutes! Everyone, save the chat for later, any civilians not running to their houses by now should make greater effort to do so! I will not repeat myself, you are not safe out here!" Mandy steps down from the podium as her meat headed guards follow her as if they were shadows. In fact, they seems to be lacking a kind of… life…

As Mandy brushes shoulders with Buttercup, a cold chill goes down her spine. "Wh-wh-wh-what the hell was that?!" She mutters to herself. "Mandy…?" She says under her breath. The ground breaks open-

But Mandy's troops are already in the air!

Buttercup doesn't have time to make the acquaintance of Otto's cohorts and takes to the air! The air grows electric as other heroes Buttercup has never seen also take to the air. She can feel that they're not too strong, but certainly beyond normal humans. Giant robots with large thrusters and gargantuan arms also circle the city! She can't help but wonder how Mandy knew this beast was coming!

The barren, desolate ground just outside the city gates erupts in what seems like a geyser of superheated steam so hot it burns red! The machines hovering above the city open fire at the opening! The beast explodes from the small crack and takes to the air, quickly blocking out the sun!

To Buttercup's astonishment… the monster isn't made of crystal, but is instead made of feathers and flesh, like a bird! The machines attempt to shoot at it, but it swoops down and blows them out of the air in one hit, causing hundreds of tornados!

This is no ordinary monster!

Clouds quickly block out the mid-day sun and the monster crashes to the ground, showing its regal, majestic form to all! It's four legged, but its front two arms end in hooves, while its back two legs end in talons. Two gigantic black feathered wings splay out from its back, spanning almost an entire mile is size! This is a beast that will have no trouble blocking out the sun and killing thousands in an instant!

Him and Barthandelus were not kidding when they said they were worried about 'Raging Beasts'! However, it does not have the face of a bird, but instead the face of a man! A truly horrifying visage! Buttercup looks around her to see if she can find anything to use against this monster, quickly identifying some of the other heroes around.

"Bubbles is here… when did she get here?! Damn it, she better not do anything stupid! Brick is with her too, there are a lot of heroes here… let's hope it's enough…" She mutters, remembering that some of Mandy's monster machines were taken out in less than a second. This monster would have no trouble killing minor heroes like those she sees below in even less time. She lets off a silent prayer for her sister as she moves in!

The Abyss Chimera lets out an inhuman screech and charges! The Saints of Crystallus quickly barrel out of the way of the stomping monstrosity! Guns and lasers fire at it as it runs towards the city! A beast this massive, towering well over twenty stories high could easily topple the entire city! To Buttercup's astonishment, a lot of the machines circle in front of its charging path and emit an electric barrier! The Abyss Chimera collides with the shield head on, and to Buttercup's astonishment, it actually stops and grunts, trying to break through!

"Now, heroes! Send this beast back to hell!" Mandy yells out through various intercoms! The various heroes unleash their attacks on the beast, but it would take building sized bullets to cause real damage to this thing! It grunts and grunts as it slowly makes progress! The machines are backed up with even more machines to stop the beast in its tracks! The monster pushes hard against the barrier, causing electric lights to shine upon the sun blocked city! It grumbles and shakes its humongous feathers, crystal beings falling from it! Compared to its size, these would be like fleas, but they are in fact the size of elephants!

All of the ground bound militia and heroes attack the newly dropped beings as they hatch from their crystal orbs! They take the shape of various animals, some are snakes, and others are lions, many different beings snarling and engaging heroes and humans alike in combat! Buttercup dives in, her demonic energy once again forming into Devilmetal Model Buttercup! Bright red hellsteel with green outlines! Though unfortunately she does not have Jack's sword this time, but instead a hellsteel forms in her hand and she makes quick work of two of the crystal monsters!

A lot of the heroes look relieved, but there are still about a hundred of these things left! Buttercup looks to the human-like face of this Abyss Chimera and rushes to the barrier around Houston! The outer sections crack and shatter as it makes more and more progress into the city! It's titanic hooves moving earth as it forces its way through!

Buttercup musters all of her strength to slice at the beast's face, but she's not even as big as its iris! Barely the size of what would manage as a bead of sweat to it! "This… monster is invincible…!" – "Not quite-" Him says. "Your backup will arrive soon, I can give you a little something to keep this beast from entering the city." Him whispers as Buttercup feels a familiar power within her! The power to access her rarely used Demon Form! "Alright, here we go!" Buttercup discards her sword and reaches into her core.

Her eyes fire open, shooting red energy out of her Hellsteel Helmet as her body grows in size, quickly erupting into a beastly form that is big enough to catch the Monster's eye! She is roughly the size of its face now. Her demonic yet armored claws dig into its skin and she puts all of her power into resisting the monster! Its hooves dig into the ground as its human face scowls and winces, trying to break through!

"Yes, my Buttercup, hold it RIGHT… THERE…!" Him says with an unfamiliar eagerness.

* * *

"SAINTS, ARE YOU READY?!"

Barrett is in space of all places! He's on a space station overlooking Earth. All of his trusted disciples are present. They nod knowingly and take their places near a derelict core. "Micheal designed The Hangar initially as a weapon in case Model M went out of control. The weapon is still intact, but no one knew of its true potential, even much after Micheal died during the First War. But utilizing his notes, we will use his weapon to stop this beast from enacting it's horrible vengeance!"

All of the saints flood this core with their Alphametal powers and it begins to spin up!

The tip of The Hangar opens up as old steel creaks and bellows. A cannon protrudes out of its tip and begins to be flooded with various colors. The entirety of The Hangar shudders as a beam of white light pierces the Earth's Atmosphere!

From space, even Cranston Utonium can see what is going on. He merely looks on, intrigued. Boomer doesn't even divert his eyes as he watches over Bunny, but he knows exactly what's going on.

"Everything is set in motion. Not much longer now…"

The laser punches a hole in the sky, letting the sunlight through!

Everyone backs away astonished as the white laser pierces that titanic beast's spine! Soon, the laser pierces even its stomach as it goes all the way through! It lets out a roar and the ground beneath them begins to quake!

Mandy seems to talk to a shade over her shoulder and goes into a scowl. Buttercup can see this, but doesn't immediately recognize the implications. "Everyone, we're moving out!" She yells loud enough for everyone within a mile to hear, even with the laser and earthly tremors! "What?! Why?! I'm not abandoning my home!" One of the heroes lets out. "The city is dead." – "WHAT?!" The beast convulses as the tremors increase in severity!

Soon, all around the city large spires of earth explode out and the entirety of the city seems to be sinking into the earth, inch by inch! The beast struggles, but the laser acts like a keystone, locking it in place! It roars and flaps its godly wings, blowing dust and people away as it does so, but it cannot move! "What the hell is this laser?!" Otto yells out, getting a response from Micheal Francis behind him.

"When I was soul linked with this universe's Micheal, I claimed some of his memories. He built an orbital environmental satellite called The Hangar." – "Yeah, I know about that, but this laser…?" – "He designed a fallback plan for Model M's failure that only he knew about for the longest time. He didn't even tell the other Knights at first. A weapon capable of sealing the evil beneath the Earth, forever." – "What?! That's crazy! How did he hide something like that on a satellite? How did no one see it?! It was checked by various agencies and countries!" – "It was hidden under the guise of a tertiary system. Its source of power was foreign to everyone who viewed it. The power, if you didn't realize by now, is soul energy."

The city continues to sink even further into the ground! "What about the people that are taking cover in the city?!" Otto blurts, not knowing that other heroes are already working on that. Some of them are super-fast. Some can fly! A lot of people are being taken from their homes to the relative safety away!

"So what if the city does sink, what then?!" – "The world around it will encase it in Earth, locking it in place with pure soul energy. Nothing short of a Chronometal could break the seal. The beast will sleep until awakened." – "…" Otto pauses as the beast is now halfway into the Earth, taking Houston and some remaining unfortunate souls with it. "Is… that a good thing…?" – "Maybe. All I know for certain is someone knew about the weapon, used it… and more importantly, had the ability to activate it. They have Chronometals." – "…!"

Buttercup is now out of her demon form, but she can still hardly believe what she's seeing. "Him… is… this what was supposed to-" – "Yes. I don't know how or why this Mandy person was here, but the role you were meant to play was for this city to sink, and be sealed underground." – "And these… Saints of Crystallus you said did this?" – "Yes, and they will continue to do so as the years go by." – "To what end? Why are we sealing these beasts?" – "They cannot be killed right now. They are simply far too powerful. These beasts, like Beelzebub himself, will rot away as the years go by, becoming weaker and weaker, until someone no stronger than an ordinary human can destroy it." – "But at the cost of a city…" – "That beast would have destroyed the entire world. It had to be this way." – "…"

The last of the heroes make their final trips as the horizon piercing white laser continues to pin down the Abyss Chimera. They didn't get everyone, but this is the best they can do. The laser is changing color! From a bright white, to a stark black! The laser explodes out and covers the entirety of the city in dark miasma, toppling the behemoth and causing an earthquake! Everyone braces themselves as the surrounding soil and stones eventually stretches over and collapses into Houston… The city is gone.

The city… is gone.

"Everyone!" Mandy yells from outside of the group. Most of the flying machines she had dominion over have left this city and her transport has arrived.

"You all did well this day." – "Well?! We lost the city-" – "The city was destined to be lost. This is the favorable alternative. Now-" – "Don't you DARE! Say that! My family was down there?! How dare you say this is favorable!" – "Would you rather have let this beast destroy the entire planet? Because it was far more than capable of doing so." – "Why is everyone like you so black and white about this?!" The seething hero fumes, standing in front of Mandy!

"These are HUMAN LIVES you're talking about! You can't just chalk them up as another statistic! They're going to die down there if we don't get them!" – "Get them? You mean break the seal and wake that monster up?" Buttercup is taken aback. How does Mandy know all of this? Him only just now told Buttercup about it… who is telling Mandy? "There had to have been another way!" – "If you had a solution, I would have been happy to hear it." – "…!" The man bears his teeth, but stays silent. She rolls her eyes and turns around.

"If you don't like the outcome, you have nothing but yourself to blame." – "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" – "If you were stronger, the beast could have been stopped without us resorting to sealing it. But know this-" She says, turning around with a cold look in her eyes. "As the years go by, more of these monsters will awaken. Each more terrifying than the last. Unless you can come up with a better way to stop it, each and every one will have to be sealed the exact same way." – "M-More cities…?!" – "More cities, more families, more people dying. In case you haven't realized it yet, we're at war with seemingly the entire forces of darkness. There is no easy way to stop them. There are only hard ways. Everyone has to make sacrifices. The day may come when even I may have to make a similar sacrifice, and that will be okay." She turns around once more.

"The world will still be here tomorrow because of it." She gets into the car and it quickly drives off to the west. Everyone is left stunned over what just transpired.

A beast broke out of the bowels of the earth. It was the size of a city. It, along with the entire city of Houston was blasted beneath in some kind of magic barrier, where it will sleep. Hundreds of people have died…

"Mandy told them to hide. Why did she do that when she knew this would happen…?!" The man fumes with clenched teeth. Buttercup walks up to him. "I don't think she knew." – "What…? What do you mean? All that stuff she was talking about-" – "I think she only just now figured it out. It may not have looked like it, but she went into this battle blind. She didn't know anything, at least, no more than I did. And I promise you, I don't know much." – "Who… are you?" – "I'm Bu-…" She pauses. "I'm just some person. A faceless hero, like all of you." She twitches as she says hero.

She turns and flies away. Unsure of how to feel about what just happened. The people on the ground are equally conflicted. A lot of people they knew were lost in this. Mandy's orders did get a lot of people killed, but her orders also held the beast off long enough for… whatever that was to happen. Was it really so strong that no one on Earth could stop it? Did it really have to be this way?

The Chronometal Wars have made people feel that catastrophe is the only certainty of life, optimists are fewer and fewer as the days go by. The global population is less than 4 billion. Most cities are in a constant state of attack and repair. Normal lives are seemingly impossible in some places, while others enjoy a fleeting paradise. Those too weak to take care of themselves are left to the cold world outside. All the talk of unity after The Great World Panic was little more than a smokescreen. People are trying to move on, but life will never go back to normal. There has been so much death and destruction.

Many people have completely lost hope. A lot of people are actually like Mandy, staring death in the face as nothing more than a numbers game. Some people dying as a completely normal thing, favorable to many people dying. Emotionless, calculating, cold. Those with warmth still in their hearts find this world disgusting, a world where lives are constantly thrown away, sacrificed for "The greater good" when in reality the greater good is nothing more than a half-baked promise that we'll be alive to see tomorrow.

Everyone is so cold and calculating until it's them or their loved ones being sacrificed.

* * *

"Gimme some of that scotch."

"Soon to be mayor Mandy?" The driver asks. She looks up. "Did you mean all of what you said back there?" – "Most of it, yeah." She picks up the scotch from one of the goons in the car with a demeanor as cold and lifeless as hers is cold and commanding. "Most of it, except the stuff where this is all about sacrifice and staying alive." – "Ma'am?" – "In reality, this was all ordained long before any of our times. I have an ear to the ground, and one foot into the door of the future. I can see what's going to happen, even if it's only a couple minutes into the future, or many thousands of years." – "What do you mean, Ma'am?" Her eyes close as she enjoys the drink in her glass.

"The world is coming to yet another end. It's always coming to an end. Though, like the ones before, it's not really ending. Just ending another chapter. The strong will inherit the world. The weak will be purged, but not by me, oh no, by the world itself. That beast we all saw today was just one of many, as I told everyone. And each and every one will have to be put down just like that, until we face the last one." – "The… last one, Ma'am?" – "And that's the really big one. The last one is going to pop up in nine years, this time it will be so unstoppable, that we have to help it along." She smiles and fires the drink back, sighing at the burning sensation. She opens her eyes to view the front mirror, the sweating driver looking at her with fearful eyes.

"We all have to play our part to purge the weak and ensure the strong inherit the world… by killing those would endanger the future. We will give this world to the final monster, and usher in a new age of the strong." – "M-M-Ma'am…!" – "What's that? Have I said too much? Don't want to be a part of my campaign anymore?" – "C-Campaign?! This isn't about being Mayor, this is about killing the entire world!" – "Yes-" She chuckles. "It is. Do you have a problem with that?" – "…" She smiles and pours herself another glass, being sure not to get any on her government clothes.

"I have an ear in the underworld, and a lot of pull. You help me out the best you can-" She says, taking another sip, enjoying the flavor. "-Maybe I can put in a good world for you there. Hell is great this time of year." – "Who… are you?" She smiles wryly. "I'm going to be mayor of Megaville. That's all you have to know."

Mandy has never smiled this much before. Most people alive have rarely ever seen one in a single instance, but something about this situation has even Mandy giddy.


	21. Farewell to the Old World

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
New Year's Eve (2)  
Farewell to the Old World

* * *

Tonight is a night of global reflection.

From Megaville to New York, Iraq to Russia, Japan to the survivors in Singapore, the world has collectively witnessed what happened in Houston several weeks ago. It was a massively humbling event that rivaled that of the destruction of World's End. The city was blasted beneath the Earth, and people could do little more than watch.

Though everyone has had a chilling realization. They aren't scared because of the city being blasted beneath the Earth, but instead of the beast that forced such a revelation to become reality. Mandy has taken her place as the Mayor of Megaville several weeks earlier, running what seemed like an unopposed campaign. She took office as a heralded war hero. She seems more like a celebrity than a Mayor, though she faded into the shadows quickly after taking office. The city is more or less the same, though maybe it has a bit more pep in its step due to having such a capable mayor.

Though Bubbles is still distraught over this. Brick is too, though he doesn't fully understand why. Brisbaine presented him with a list of underground connections Mandy has. Apparently her tentacles permeate far deeper than just Megaville. The prototype battle machine that was designed during the Panic is now the blueprint for mass produced piloted guardian machines, though when Brick really stops to think about it, they could just as easily be used as tools of war, or oppression towards the people. He's not sure about much, though Bubbles is. He's lent Bubbles his full cooperation, but all that's going on is starting to wear on him.

He truly feels like he's making no progress. The world is in shambles, although the celebrations outside for New Year's Eve are going on, people can tell it's more out of tradition, and not actual happiness for the year to come. Doomsayers in all countries of the world cry out that the world is coming to an end. So many of them speaking of the exact same catastrophe at the same time has the world actually listening to them. Most of the world is united in fear of the beasts below, but some are so terrified that they are lashing out at those around them; riots are taking place in some of the less fortunate countries.

Though there is a girl in the Bubbles household that doesn't care for any of that. She looks up into the fireworks filled sky with a puzzling expression on her face. Olga.

Her body is no longer as sore as it usually was not too long ago. She's recovered, physically, but mentally she seems to be somehow degrading. The voices in her head are ever so slightly getting louder, and more desperate. The spirits she seems to have an odd connection to are also calling for the end of the world. Maybe all of those doomsayers around the globe are hearing similar things.

Though something is calling to her, once she listens closer. There is… someone out there, someone in the sky, someone calling out to her. "Help… me…" She can hear in the faintest voice possible, that even the movements of the wind threaten to block out the sound, but she can hear it well, as if she had been listening explicitly for just this. She gets off of her bed and puts on her coat. She's independent enough to do anything a normal person can, though she still gets confused looks from Bubbles and Brick when she leaves the house.

"Olga? Where are you going?" – "Somewhere. There's somewhere I have to be." – "Alright… stay safe, okay?" – "Mhm." She opens the door and leaves the house, to be met with the chill of mid-winter. The pop of fireworks still goes off, though there are considerably less merrymakers out today than there were last year. She walks over to a nearby hill and looks up into the sky, towards the moon.

"Who are you…?" – "Help… me… I'm… trapped…" – "Where are you…?" She looks into the sky, the moonlight illuminating her scarred face. The large scar she has had for almost half of her life, ever since she first joined The Knights almost exactly 10 years ago, an accident that nearly claimed her life, only to be saved by Ph*****.

"…?" Olga wonders to herself. Ph*****? Who? Who saved her again? No wait, it was Mi*****. "…!" Olga's head hurts, something is wrong. "Who…? Who did…?" She mutters, rubbing a single finger down her scar. She can remember an explosion… a voice… "When did I get this scar…? Was it when I tried to revive Su***?" Her eyes go wide and she suddenly feels very angry! "GAH! SU… SU… SU… SAN!" She grips her head with both of her hands out of both pain and frustration, anger born tears fill her eyes as she shakes her head. She opens her eyes slowly, taking a deep breath. "Susan… Susan… that's right… my… brother… I…" She begins to cry again

"I almost forgot my own brother…" She falls to her knees on top of this cold, grassy hill as the voice still speaks to her from the sky. "Trapped…"

* * *

The mood is similarly melancholy here in Black Eden.

Cranston Utonium has spent his time today doing… nothing, which has never happened in the past twenty or so years. Something has him legitimately worried. He taps his clawed fingers on his desk, Shira Boomer doing what he's been doing for a long time, watching over Bunny as she slowly recovers. "Everything… is stalled…" X says to himself, beckoning a look from Boomer. "Professor…?" – "The Shira Project is stalled, Bunny is still comatose… the Bell cloning device is stalled, she is still recovering, and my two warriors… their inclusion into this world is similarly stalled. We have the cases, but not the ability to actually bring them into this world…"

Boomer turns back to Bunny. What X says is right, but it's not his problem. X's motivation ever since Boomer knew him was to get his daughter back, Boomer presumes through methods not too different than the way he was brought back. Though that method is more than possible, X has been working on an actual cloning process. Apparently it's been going well, though it could still be a while until it is complete. Ever since they both witnessed The Hangar blast a city under the Earth, neither of them feel like the driving powers they used to be.

Especially Cranston. He used to be a person whose very name inspired fear, ALL FEAR DOCTOR X! he would say. But now, no one even remembers him. The only people he can remember that may even know he exists would be Brisbaine and Brick, though since X has been gone for so long now, they may have completely forgotten about him. Is that a good thing? He wonders to himself. That may give him the opportunity for a kind of sneak attack. "But why…?" He wonders to himself. What can he accomplish up here?

Does he need to attack the world? Or would he be content to stay up here, in space, forever? That's for him to find out on his own.

* * *

The Saints of Crystallus are in a similar slump.

Everyone is so tired. They've been working non-stop to help various cities against the crystal monsters, to seemingly no end. Noss has unlocked some potential for his Alphametal, as has Alex, but Kally's is still the undisputed champion. Izzy, the child, is three years old now. He's been walking and talking, everyone in The Saints knows him, and loves him.

The newest Member of the Saints, Neil, has settled in well with seemingly no complaints from anyone. His own Alphametal has never been pushed to its limits, probably because of Neil's natural skill preventing near death scenarios. He has never sparred with Kally, but that is because he doesn't want to. Something about… "Not wanting to hurt a girl." Or something like that. Or was it "Not wanting to hurt a pretty girl?" Was he coming onto her? He is older, almost 16 years old. Kally is struggling to reach 13 herself, and even then she never accepted or even took notice of his advances. Whenever Neil talks, Noss can't help but roll his eyes. Though whatever passive aggressive thing Noss pull out, Neil never notices, which makes Noss even angrier.

"I'm gonna go get some air." Kally says, leaving the room. Barthandelus hasn't called on them today, apparently there aren't any crystal monsters present. It's been weeks since they've had a break. "Uh, so am I." Neil says, following her. Noss can't help but glare at Neil, who once again completely forgets Noss exists. "I'm starting to hate that guy…" He says under his breath, Alex hearing him. "I know what you mean… he seems to only be focused on one thing. He doesn't seem to be taking this job seriously." – "Oh, yeah… that's why…" – "Hmm? Is there some other reason you don't like-… wait…" Alex pauses, a small grin crossing her face.

"What?" – "You like Kally, don't you?" – "Wh-What? Don't be stupid." Noss looks away, embarrassed. Alex claps him on the back and looks him in the eye once he looks over at her. "Trust me, you're both barking up the wrong tree." – "Huh…?"

* * *

Kally stares into the stars. They are far enough from any major city that she can only make out fireworks on the horizon, their sound faintly echoing over to her. It's sandy and kind of desolate here. She takes a breath of fresh air as Neil shows up without her noticing, causing her to cough a bit. "Oh, hey." She says, once she regains her composure. "Hey." He looks out to the horizon, Kally also doing so. "So, your family was one of famous blacksmiths, huh? Like your great grandfather, who made that sword?" He takes his blade out of the sheath on his back and looks at it, it's so finely made and sharp that merely moving it along the wind causes it to sing.

"I was the last in the hereditary dynasty to inherit it. It's really quite an amazing blade. Nothing Barrett has made even comes close, even he realizes that. He's studied this sword a little bit, but he hasn't figured out exactly why it's so powerful." Kally looks down and holds her hand to her chest, or more specifically, to the center of her Alphametal. "My father, Francis, designed the first Alphametals a long time ago. What I'm wearing was one of the prototypes. He made it just for me, so that I can protect myself." – "Do you… know where your dad is?" She shakes her head and looks back at the horizon.

"No. He disappeared as soon as the Chronometal Wars started. He's always been a private man, if he was doing something important, he wouldn't tell me… but I can feel that he's still out there… I just know it… and so does my armor…" She closes her eyes and feels the soft night wind around her. "My parents died as soon as the first war hit Megaville. I was lucky to find this sword; it was in my father's possession at the time. He was still barely alive when he told me to take it. I think I was… 13 at the time… he told me it was time for me to become a man. He handed me the sword, and died right there. I had to leave everyone behind, my friends, my cousins, my classmates, everything. I wandered around for a couple of years until I heard Barthandelus' whispers. He told me to find a way to free this world. To help the people find peace." Kally looks over to him.

"Is that why you were helping those women commit suicide?" He only sadly nods. "Who was I to tell them what was right or wrong, other than the man who was tasked by Barthandelus to free the helpless people. Even now, I know there are people out there who are scared, and helpless. Who yearn for freedom from all of this." – "And what are you going to do?" – "I don't know." He says surprisingly quickly. "I thought I knew, once, but that was until I fought Noss, until he stopped that one girl from killing herself. His eyes were filled with such certainty, and a power I haven't seen in a boy his age. He's still a kid, don't get me wrong, but he's growing up fast." Kally smiles a small bit. "He has matured a lot since he first joined us." She looks back up to the moon.

"I'm sure you guys will make a cute couple." Neil says out of the blue. "Wait, wh-what?!" – "I can only imagine the reason you never responded to my advances was because you were taken. I meant no offense." – "Wh-what the… how did it come to this? Ugh…" She looks flustered, but she doesn't go away, instead she turns to him, as he turns to her.

"I am taken, in heart, but not by him." – "Oh? Who has your heart, might I ask?" – "…" Kally seems to be hesitant to answer. Neil can see the pain in her eyes. Something she's been hiding for a long time. "I'm… sorry. It wasn't appropriate, I'll go." Neil turns back to go inside. "Wait. Do you really want to know?" – "If you'd tell me, yes." He says without turning his head back. She swallows hard, but is calmed by the cool night wind. She decides to just let it out.

"I'm in love with a girl. A girl I met a long time ago. A girl I'm probably never going to meet again." – "A… girl… huh?" He smiles slightly. "I wish you the best, Kally. I hope you find her again someday." – "Thanks… Neil." He walks back in, casually waving back at her as his brown hair banks from his subtle movements.

"Ruby? Are you still out there?"


	22. Realization

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 2  
Realization

* * *

"See you later, Utonium."

Dexter says deceptively casually, leaving his place of employment, a kind of think-tank for the American Government to come up for ideas to fight against all things that would harm the world. Today's topic, as was every topic for the past two or so years, has been for defenses against the Crystal Monsters that have been terrorizing the world. A lot of the work has been outsourced and handled by private hero groups, but the calm after the storm that was present during New Years is well gone. It's February now, and the attacks have risen to a new high.

Small towns and rebuilt cities are being built with a specific kind of infrastructure in mind, a very expensive kind of infrastructure, but very effective against Earthquakes and monsters bursting out of the Earth's Crust. Buildings propelled just off the ground by several feet, able to withstand mild to great tremors, as well as Carbon shells surrounding the buildings, making it so that anything short of a missile attack would do very little damage.

Domes built on the outskirts of cities made to withstand even a nuclear strike, triple locked and protected by a mixture of Carbon and Nano-Steel, Dexter's specialty. 'See you later, Utonium.', a rather casual way to end a day of frantic talks of doom prevention as well as the economic realities to putting them in place. Economics of the world have changed since the Chronometal Wars, where it's less about making the most money, to the point of knowing just how much money you have to spend to keep as many people as possible alive tomorrow.

It wouldn't be too prudent to say that almost every shred of the old world is gone. The only people still holding onto the old world are those who are nostalgic of peaceful times, living what can be boiled down to be nothing more than a lie nowadays. On that note, Dexter is fully aware that he's doing his best to live a comfortable lie, a kind of family life with his wife and kids. Blossom and Bell are over a year old now. Blossom is a bouncing, screaming, hyper baby, though in some way, even the most chaotic day brings him more peace than anything else. Bell on the other hand, is mellow. Her legs don't work and her natural instincts for mischief are much less defined than Blossom's, a kid who will let you read them a story and actually listen, every time. Though… he dreads the day when Megaville comes under massive attack again, by something like that Houston monster.

Dexter is trying very, very hard to stay out of the hero business and do right by his family, but it's starting to wear on him. More and more people are suffering out there, an average of three cities a day are coming under attack by crystal monsters. The small amount of comfort he does get is from his job, in which he knows he is contributing to the safety of innocents, while still being able to maintain a kind of suburban life.

Lynn and he have talked about getting back into the hero business, both of them can see the merits, but when they look over at their babies… they both come to the same sad conclusion. This is their place; there is no going back from this. Though it brings him comfort to see Utonium go back home to a hero household, even though now apparently he's living the life of a bachelor. Apparently Buttercup has been gone for some time. She's usually seen fighting monsters, but she won't tell anyone what's going on with her. It's like she's gone back into hiding, but this time with a little crime fighting on top. Dexter wants to know if something's wrong (And he knows something's wrong) with her, but he can't ever find the time.

So he walks home from the Think-Tank. Utonium is going back to his own house to do networking with other heroes to create a kind of safety web for people, while Dexter simply… goes home for the day. He's happy; he truly is, but… as I've said before. It's wearing on him. When he's alone he questions the decisions he's made up to this point, but when he's with his family, he is given a kind of clarity that always seems to surprise him. His regrets tend to melt away in the warm embrace of his family members. Dexter is a family man, and a damn good one at that.

Though… Ruby has been distant lately.

* * *

"Ruby?"

Dexter opens her door to see her looking out her window, the cool air of winter's end coming through. She's been very… very distracted lately. "Honey? Is everything alright?" – "Oh, Dad… hi…" She says, distracted. "Did you hear that one of the minor monsters attacked the city today?" – "Yes, I did, I was so scared that something happened to you. You're okay… right?" – "Y-Yeah… but…" She looks out the window again, her long, well-kept hair blowing in the weak breeze. "A friend from high-school… probably isn't coming in today." – "…" Dexter sits on her bed as she sits on her window chair. "-Or tomorrow." He diverts his eyes. "This is so fucking stupid." – "Ruby!" Dexter blurts at her sudden profanity! She says nothing back, still looking straight out the midday window. "Maybe… if I was there… I could have helped him…" – "Ruby, there is nothing you could have done." – "No. No, there was. Simply being there, my experience around this kind of stuff could have helped, anything, anything but nothing." – "Ruby? What are you trying to say?" She looks back with a single tear in one of her eyes, but it hasn't fallen yet. Her voice isn't cracking either, it's a tear that looks like it probably won't fall, she's in complete control of her emotions as she talks from the heart.

"You and mom are heroes, right? Why aren't you guys out there?!" – "…!" Dexter looks shocked, this is the first time Ruby has snapped at him like this. Then again, this is also the first time this girl has ever said fuck to his face. "Ruby… I…" – "Why are you guys running from this?! You're heroes! People I used to look up to and admire my entire life! People like you gave me hope for a better tomorrow! But now it's all… it's all f-fucked!" – "Ruby, please!" This teenaged girl seems to be in an emotional episode.

"DAD!" She snaps, catching him off guard. "School doesn't even teach the normal stuff anymore! It's all safety drills and what to do when a monster attacks! To keep yourself alive! This isn't normal anymore, this isn't funny anymore! You guys can't keep doing this! You're heroes, you… you have to be out there and save people!" She says as that one tear finally falls and her voice begins to crack.

"I… can't do that Ruby…" – "Why?" – "We have to look after you guys." He says, also calling attention to the babies, who at this point are both napping. Or at least Blossom is napping, and Bell is being quiet, like she always is. "I don't need people to look after me, Dad. I'm thirteen!" – "Do you think that makes you invincible Ruby?!" Dexter finally snaps back, causing an odd expression to cross Ruby's face. "Do you think that adults know what to do in these times?! Well we don't, okay?! The older you get, the more complicated things get, and I'm doing the best I can!"

The room goes silent for a moment.

"Your… mother really loves you; I want you to know that. She wants to protect you as best she can. She wants you to be happy, and she knows that if we go out there… and we simply don't come back…" – "…" Ruby understands. "I… know… but I… I mean…" – "I know, Ruby. I know… it's hard for everyone." She timidly walks over to him and sits beside him on the bed and gives him an awkward teenage hug. "I'm… sorry I said fuck…" Dexter rolls his eyes at the blatant language, but lets it pass. "It's okay, Ruby. Just… calm down. Your mom and I are doing everything we can." – "By the way… where… is mom?"

* * *

"Barasia… two…"

Lynn, no… Barasia is in Megaville. Her old house, the depths of which still hold her lab. "You look… pretty…" She says to the unconscious shell in front of her.

It's… an exact copy of her original format, Barasia. A single number can be seen on her shoulder. (2) I'm doing the best I can, you know that… right…?" – "…" – "The silent treatment again, huh?" She walks next to a kind of recording device and speaks into it. What is Barasia doing here?

"The time has come, my copies, my children. This green human-less world, a mere echo if its former shell awaits the memory of what once was. Awaken, and remind the Universe of what was born here... us... so that we may never be forgotten..."

The message is set to a very long time limit. As she punches in the final code, a kind of chain reaction ensues, and she can feel what lives below her. Copy after Copy, Barasian clones slumber below. A hundred? Two Hundred? Only She knows. "I've seen that the world is still here in several years… it's still green… but the people within it… Ruby… dead… all of them. This is all that's left."

She puts Barasia Two in her pod and seals it. "Good luck you guys, though I doubt that people as capable as you need luck."


	23. The Search

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 2  
The Search

* * *

"I've found Dexter, but no sign of Barasia."

Micheal and Elly look down at the table before them. "We don't have much time. There is a small, but crucial role we have to fill, and we need their help for it. Buttercup too." – "About Buttercup… it seems like she's off doing her own thing. I mean, she saw us at Houston and pretty much blew us off. But besides, what is this role we have to fill? You guys really haven't told me much. I've been going with you because I trust you, but I think it's time you tell me what's going on." Micheal sighs. He opens his eyes to view Otto's. Francis's body is looking a little more nourished than before, it's been a couple months since the event in Houston, and Micheal has made sure to get some meat on these bones. Even then from close up you can spot the malnourishment.

"Beelzebub is going to attack in eight years. But before that, the world will be nearly split in half in the preceding seven. Townsville will fall, Megaville will fall, New York, Citysville, all of America and all of every other nation on the planet, will literally fall. Beneath the Earth's crust, they will all sleep. But after that, Beelzebub will destroy the planet, ushering an age of lifelessness. A true Ruination." – "How do you know this?" – "Briarus told me, right as he sent me in, he could feel the coming apocalypse. He said he went to find a Messiah, to stop the dark ages, but that he would be entirely indisposed for the duration of his quest." Otto sighs and sits down.

"So what's our goal?" – "The Knights, a combination of five groups needs to stand united as Beelzebub enters this world." – "Five groups, what five groups?" – "Well, ours, for one, with the power of a Chronometal. Francis has an Alphametal, and that will suffice. Dexter and Brick for two have Models D and S, Blossom and Bubbles for three has Model B and Model B-2, The Saints for four have Alphametals. And last but not least… Olga has Model D-2, the last required Chronometal." – "Wait, D-2? S? I've never heard of those before." – "Well, D-2 was a Chronometal that existed before the Second War sundered the world, The Old Knights created it in an attempt to kill Bubbles and Buttercup, though it failed, and the Chronometal was destroyed."

"About that, Blossom is dead, and her Chronometal is destroyed as well. How are you going to get Model B back?" – "That's what we need Buttercup for." – "Wait… I'm confused… why?" – "Briarus told me that she was the key. I don't fully understand it either." – "Okay… what about Model S? I haven't heard of that either." – "Brick's Model S… Briarus didn't tell us much… but it's apparently found later in this timeline. You needn't worry about its acquisition." – "So what do we have to do?" – "Find Dexter and Barasia. Finding Brick and Bubbles wouldn't hurt either, but above all else we NEED Buttercup's help." Elly nods and follows that up. "I'm not sure how, but she can somehow connect us to Blossom, and her Chronometal. We just need her to realize that and help us."

"Alright… alright…" Otto sits down and begins to think. "I think we're going to have to split up. Buttercup won't really talk to me, we weren't ever really friends. In fact I think she kind of hated me. But if you were to tell her who you were, Micheal, Elly, she would listen to you." – "I got it. What are you going to do?" – "I think I know where Dexter is, at least."

* * *

"Boss! Boss!"

"Gir? What's wrong?" – "It's Bell! It's Bell! Something is happening!" Cranston's eyes go wide and not even Boomer can resist looking over at Gir. Bell? Something is happening? Is this it? "Come! Come!" Gir bounces off down the dark halls and Doctor X crashes after him, more hopeful than ever. But… Boomer's face looks strange.

"Bell…? I do feel a life form here… but it's not… Bell." It feels similar, but it is distinctly separate from Bell, or at least Boomer's memory of Bell.

Cranston stomps down the dark halls to a teleporter, Gir is bouncing and pointing at it, telling him in his own strange body language to hurry up. The look on Doctor X's face is one of urgency; he couldn't bear to lose the last clone…! All of them have gone dark except one, and now this one faces a similar risk! But Cranston holds out hope, it can't be this way!

They take the teleporter and land in the familiar area that Cranston uses to house the clones as well as other things. He nears the bulkheads and they shoot open to show a room of empty pods! One by one he passes them before reaching another bulkhead, another room. He passes through another door and runs down to the end, to the last living clone.

C1-41-RE. He reaches the final pod to see the being inside convulsing! "No! Not again!" He opens the pod to try something he's tried many times before, all ending in failure, but he has to try! Gir spins around in frantic circles as he removes the naked body from the tube! The body is spitting up bile and its empty eyes are shot open yet unfocused. She looks just like Bell, but her hair seems to have changed a lot from the cloning process, showing more a silver coloration rather than white! X does what he can-

But it's too late…

The body stops writhing and its eyes go milky… "Bell… why…?" He falls to his knees, but his huge body is still towering over the medical bed the being is dead on. Gir timidly walks up to him, but he doesn't pay him any mind, his devilish eyes are an inconsistent color, a flickering change between red and black, almost as if they were wet.

His eyes close and his head slumps. It's over, Bell is never coming back. What would normally cause him unbridled anger instead instills a kind of depressed peace. His mind goes blank and his hands are slumped on the ground, resting on their wrists. He has been defeated; there is nothing left on this front. He puts the body back in the pod, but does not shut it. Once the body is sufficiently ready, the base will automatically terminate it.

"All that is left… is the final Shira project…" His eyes open once more with a demented vigor in them. He stands up and turns to leave the room, leaving Gir inside, who doesn't want to leave Bell's body. He jumps on top of the table and looks at her, before shaking his head wildly. Even someone with a mind as strange as his understands what's going on. Gir leaves the room only to bump into X's leg. He's standing still just outside of the room, his face buried in his giant hand. Gir somberly walks away.

* * *

"Ugh…"

A girl in a strange predicament lets out. She shakes her head, her silver hair banking at the slight motions. Her hazy eyes look around the room, around her. She notices she is suspended by clasps, but they are only barely holding her up. She gently moves forwards and plops out of the pod, landing on her feet. Her hair is very long, having never been cut, reaching nearly the ground and shining a lustrous wet silver.

Contrary to what you may think however, she is not helpless, nor is she naïve. Upon leaving the pod, as weak as she is, she looks around her surroundings. She doesn't know where she is, what she's been doing, or who she is, but she knows how to walk, how to talk, and how to think critically. "Who…?" She mutters quietly, turning around. She notices that the room is wall lined with several pods. She remembers that she just now came out of one. She looks around this specific pod for anything that can give her clues as to what's happening.

Her pod, it looks like it has a name on it. She kneels down and squints, trying to read, piecing the symbols together in her mouth.

"C… Cuh… Cul… Clay…? Clar…? Cl… Claray? Claire?" She tries to make out the symbols on the pod. The other pods have similar designations, but none of them ring quite like this one. "Claire…? Is… that who I am?" Though of course, we both know that there was no Claire initially in this room. It was C1-41-RE, her clone designation, but she doesn't know that, and at this point it doesn't really matter.

"Why don't I remember anything? What happened? Where am I?" Her anxiety and fear are starting to catch up with her. She covers her bare body and shivers, both from fear and cold. "H-Help… someone…" She mutters to herself, feeling as if someone who could help her could hear such a muffled plea.

She notices a grotesque shape in the doorway in front of her. "I'm… trapped…"

* * *

Olga's eyes fire open from her sleep. "That voice again…!"


	24. Claire

The Chronometal Wars  
The Black War  
Year 2  
Claire

"Okay, Claire… get it together, girl…"

She says to herself, screwing up a kind of courage. She palms her cheeks and shakes her head, taking another look around the dark room. The ceiling of this room is completely see-through, allowing her to look out. What she sees astonishes her still growing mind.

"Woooow…" She says with childish wonderment, though her body reflects a teenage stature. What she can see is none other than the entirety of planet Earth from a cosmic perspective. Is… she on the Moon? Is that where this place is? But she doesn't know what Earth is, or what a Moon is, or even who she is with full certainty. She can still see the giant silhouette outside of the door to this room, if it were to look back and see her… who knows what it would do!

She looks to her left, seeing a well placed mirror, allowing to her get a view of herself. She almost blushes, remembering she's completely nude. She shakes her had and looks back.

She goes back to the pod she was in initially and looks inside of it, up and down. A kind of liquid is still gooping off of the walls, showing that it had only recently been opened. But why was she here? Was she sleeping in here? For how long? Near the bottom she can see a kind of opening. She looks in it, and it appears to be wide enough to support her body. If she wanted to, she could crawl through it, but there's no knowing where it goes or if it's safe.

She takes one last look over her shoulder, the silhouette is gone! It's now or never! She jumps down the pod and lands at the bottom of it with a splash of green liquid! It's dark down here, but there is a very small amount of light present along the pipe. She gets on her knees and moves through the water, her incredibly long hair draping into it and getting soaked.

It's a thick, viscous fluid that reeks of something that burns her nose. It's minty, but oddly off-putting, like medical fluid. Her bare legs and arms splash against it, making her way towards the unknown. Before long, a kind of horrid stench reaches her nose and she realizes she's at a crossroad. The stench seems to be coming from the left path, where the water is slowly draining to, while another path lead to the right.

She doesn't want to take too many risks, but there's something strange about this terrible smell, and she turns to the left, the flow of the water helping to very slowly push her forward. Without her being able to realize it, she passes over a hole and sinks into it! Before long, she falls hard onto a pile of sticky matter. The water is splashing onto her head from the drainage above. She rises to her feet and shakes her head, quickly getting out of the way of the waterfall. The smell is amplified here. It's dark, but she can make out what she's standing on.

It appears to be a pile of rotten, formless meat. The liquid is flowing onto it and seemingly breaking it down, but over a long amount of time. She shrugs, and moves out of the area as to not throw up from the terrible smell. A door fires open as she nears it, showing a much brighter light in the next room. It's a sight for sore eyes, but she carefully looks into the room to see if anyone is there.

Seeing that the coast is clear, she slowly tip toes into the room, her bare body and hair covered in a viscous green liquid and specked with reddish brown bits of meat from her landing. The door closes behind her and she looks around, noticing a large labcoat on a rack. It's well over twice as tall as she is, and several times wider, but it's better than walking around naked. She puts it on, but tears off the excess at the seams, allowing it to resemble more of a skirt than a coat. The sleeves are torn down to size so her hands can fit, and she buttons it up, though it's still very loose.

She looks around this specific room, seeing all kinds of sharp tools and data pads. She pores over the nearest one and tries to read what's on it. Unfortunately, she's not that great at reading. "P… Pross… Processing…? F-Failed… C-C-Clone… Processing…" Is what she can make out from the header. The rest of letters below are far too small for her childlike brain to accurately read. "Clone…? What's a clone?" She wonders to herself, looking on the wall, seeing a picture of a girl splayed across several of the datagrams and papers.

"Hey, she looks like me." She says to herself, almost smiling. "Is… this my home?" She looks around once more, having fully exhausted this room's usefulness. She walks over to another door that fires open and enters into a hallway. She looks up and down the hall, noticing several rooms along it. She slowly and timidly walks down the hall, keeping her ears and eyes wide open, ready to bolt at the slightest provocation.

The large shadow is casted down the hall and her eyes go wide! Her head zips around looking for the nearest room and she jumps into it! It closes behind her and she takes a breath as she can feel and hear the being walking down the hall. Her heartbeat goes a mile a minute as it stops by the door… but then continues walking. She exhales, a tear leaving her eye. This is getting to her, hard. "Help…" She mutters to herself. She sniffs and looks around. Unlike most of the rooms she's been in, this one has almost no lighting, and the air is dusty.

Her fresh lungs cough at the impure air in here. She can't make much out, but it looks like metal stuff is just strewn around, like a junkyard. She flips a switch behind her and gets to look for herself. Tables lined with battered machines, walled mounted with broken robots. The same is present everywhere in this room. She spies another data pad and looks at it. "C… Cl… Cluster… R… Rep… Repair B-Bay. Cluster Repair Bay…" Cluster? She wonders to herself. What's that? Are these things Cluster? She looks around at some of the pictures in this room as well.

It's not just limited to single individuals this time, instead there are drawings, pictures, and papers showing various beings, some large, some small. Mostly male, but one female sticking out, one with brown hair and a particular look about her that unnerves Claire. Come to think of it…

She looks around and nods. There is something here that looks like that girl, hanging on the wall over here. She walks up to it and looks at it. It's definitely seen better days. Beaten, burnt, and blasted to bits. The hair is present, more or less, but the face seems to have been blown open. Whatever these Cluster things were, they got really beat up. She nears the back of the room and spies something that makes her eyes light up.

"Es… cape… pod…?!" She says, the words clicking in her head as something that can allow her to flee from this place. She looks around one last time, thinking that she heard something. But then she's certain she hears something.

"One… is the loneliest number that you'll ever do~~~…" A rather small voice lets out from beyond the door. The door opens up and Claire panics! She jumps into the escape pod without risk and presses all the buttons she can! Before long, the sliding door behind her closes and the small pod she's in begins to rumble!

"Huh? Oh! Bell! Bell! It's me!" The high pitched small doglike thing lets out, jumping towards the pod, but Claire is backed against a wall, even this small thing scares her! It can see that she's scared. "It's… afraid…? Of something so, Girly?"

"FIVE" The pod lets out.

"Bell? Where you going?"

"FOUR"

It puts its padded hands on the glass window and looks at her.

"THREE"

"Why? Do you not love me anymore?"

"TWO"

Claire looks at it, no longer feeling so scared, but almost a little sad. Who is it? Does it know her?

"ONE- EJECTING!"

All vision is lost as the iron clamp is placed over the pod and she is ejected from the area, the force of the launch bringing her to her knees! The turbulence shakes her around and around! She painstakingly looks out the small circular window to see that she's nearing the planet she saw from her room!

(====================================================================================)

"Are you sure, Gir?!" – "Yessir! Yessir! I sees her with my own eyes I did!" His many eyes all blink. He looks out the window to see the flash of light enter the atmosphere.

"So… she was alive… and now, she's gone…" He says to himself. He's broken that she's gone, but at the same time, more happy than he's been in years. "Bell… you… you're alive…!" Boomer is in the room, still taking his place near Bunny, but he can sense her power. He thinks to himself.

"That's… not Bell… similar, but wholly different…"

The pod shines as it is engulfed in the familiar flame of planetary entering, Claire pinned to the floor, praying to herself! "Help! Please! I don't want to die! Help!"

(====================================================================================)

What looks like a shooting star is coming right out of the sky, but Olga is already here on top of the starlit hill. She can hear her voice, but she is not sure how, or why. Why this girl? Why now? Why Olga? These are questions, but not ones worth asking right now, Claire is about to crash on this very hill, and she's going to need Olga's help.

She looks into the sky, a red colored star growing bigger and bigger, her black pigtails and neutral expression still so prevalent. She can still hear her voice, it's getting more desperate. "Help! Anyone! Please!" Olga opens her mind and seems to instinctually talk. "Calm down…" She says.

"…?!" Claire's tear filled eyes bolt open. "Huh?! Who are you?!" – "Calm down, everything is going to be fine. I promise." – "B-But-" – "Please trust me. I've been keeping an eye on you for a while. I know what you're going through. Relax, you will meet me soon enough, you won't die. Okay?" – "O-Okay...!"

The pod shutters and feels like it's about to explode at any moment! It's blazing like a fireball and seems like it's about to crash right into Olga, but she's standing perfectly still, like she already knows what's going to happen. The weird thing is… she does.

She does know exactly what's going to happen. Why?


End file.
